‘Join hands with gov’t to eliminate poverty’

* Vice President of Ghana - Alhaji Alui Mahama

Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama, has challenged the Catholic Church to join hands with government to introduce and support policies and programmes aimed at eliminating the root causes of poverty in Ghana.
This, he said, should include improving the health, education, housing and legal rights of the poor.

He said these at the Centenary Celebration of the Catholic Church in Northern Ghana at a ceremony held in Navrongo last week-end.
Alhaji Mahama said the government was ready to co-operate with the Church and all religious bodies in building a more and better society now and for posterity.

“As the Church in the North begins another milestone of evangelisation, I wish to urge you to involve comprehensive plans to provide more social and infrastructural services to rural communities where the majority of our poor and needy populations live.”

The Bible in both the Old and New Testaments gives elaborate guidelines about assistance to the poor and needy, he added.

Alhaji Mahama paid glowing tribute to the White Fathers as pioneers of western education in Northern Ghana.
He said in terms of the contribution to the expansion of western education in Northern Ghana, therefore, it was the Catholic Church which made the greatest impact.

“Indeed, without its schools and institutions, the Upper East and Upper West in particular, would have been worse off educationally than they are today. We owe a debt of gratitude to the Catholic Church”
The Vice-President said another area the Church must show concern is the up-bringing of the youth, adding that majority of today’s youth have little or no mark of the good moral up-bringing, discipline and teachings of the Christian faith.

“The high incidence of aberrant life-style exemplified by the alarming rate of drug addiction, promiscuity, disregard for societal norms and values must be a matter of concern to all of us.
“It is therefore a big challenge to all of you as spiritual leaders to work tirelessly to find lasting solutions to these deviant behavioural patterns among the youth of our country,” he said.

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