Border closures weaken national unity- Lodonu

Right Reverend Francis Anani Lodonu, Bishop of the Ho Diocese of the Catholic Church on Wednesday said the selective closure of borders in Ghana for supposed security reasons could weaken national unity.

He said closing Ghana's eastern borders alone during elections makes the people of the Volta Region for example feel excluded from the rest of Ghana.

Bishop Lodonu who was delivering a sermon at a mass to mark Christmas at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Ho suggested that, “if borders have to be sealed then it should be all”.

Government closed the country's borders to Togo just before the December 7 general elections, raising criticism from Chiefs in the Volta Region, who said that decision was discriminatory.

“I fully concur with them. If you close only borders leading to Togo which borders mainly the Volta Region, you make the people there feel like strangers,” Bishop Lodonu stated.

He advised the winning side in the December 28 presidential runoff to go easy on celebrations to avoid brushing the sensibilities of the defeated side.

Bishop Lodonu also advised the side that would be beaten to accept defeat, saying just as Jesus Christ accepted defeat, was crucified but rose the third day to claim victory, that party would also win one day.