The Most Rev. Philip Naameh, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, has admonished Members of Parliament (MPs) to be disciplined as many Ghanaians, especially the youth, see them as role models.
He gave the advice in a sermon at Ghana Parliament’s 2021 Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at the forecourt of Parliament House in Accra under the patronage of Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin.
The service was attended by MPs, members of the Judiciary, Ministers of state, members of the diplomatic community, leading figures of political parties and the academia.
Most Rev. Naameh, who is the Metropolitan Catholic Archbishop of Tamale, urged Ghanaians to purify themselves from all negative self-talks and to ask God for the strength and the courage of transformation to enable them see each other as one family playing different roles.
He said in every government, the opposition played a very important role towards a good democracy; saying “but you (the MPs) know it and that is why I am saying that you are very civil with each, even very friendly with each other; while you give us, who are out there a different image about yourselves.”
“So, continue to embark on a path of self-transformation that will enable you to see the opposition and government as two sides of a very important sections of one House and the need to collaborate with one another when the opportunity offers itself.”
The Archbishop said from the Bible’s perspective, the human person was the centre of creation as well as its steward, adding that therefore, the inherent and inalienable dignity of every human must be upheld.
“In this life, we observe that there can be no peace in our country if the human person is not respected and if we do not put an end to the culture of discrimination, of insults and putting barriers between groups of people or between individual persons,” he said.
“We therefore, urge all our compatriots in the interest of peaceful coexistence to desist from the culture of insults, which militates against the growth of democracy in our dear country.”
Archbishop Naameh recounted that some recent happenings in the nation’s Parliament seems to run contrary to the peace that Christ brought to the nation.
“We are however, pleased to know that the Leaders of the House are making conscious efforts to possibly find a solution to the impasse, as the result of the entrenched position taken by both sides of the House,” he stated.
Quoting from the Bible, Archbishop Naameh said in light of the vision of the prophet Isaiah, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them”.
Archbishop Naameh urged both sides of the House to always put the interest of the nation over and above the individual and parochial interests.
“It was my very happy and surprised this evening to see that when you (the MPs) are together, you are so much friendly but you give a completely different image (from the Chamber of Parliament) to the Ghanaian populace, who are watching you through our very vibrant communications and information technology (ICT).
He noted that everything that the MPs were doing in Parliament was being watched and perceived by Ghanaians, especially by the youth, who see them as role models because of their learning and because of their achievements.
“They would also want to see that you maintain a certain level of discipline, which is worth emulating by others,” Archbishop Naameh stated.
Rt. Hon. Speaker Bagbin who read the Ninth Lesson from the Bible, in a brief remark prior to the reading, noted that “God is good. All the time. What God cannot do does not exist”.
