Asantehene calls for unity

Kumasi (Ashanti Region) - Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene has urged Ghanaians to bury their differences and unite for the speedy development of the country.

He said the country is passing through trying times and it is time the people rallied behind their leaders at all levels to find solutions to national and local problems. Otumfuo Osei Tutu made the appeal in a New Year message at a church service at the Ramseyer Presbyterian Church at Adum in Kumasi on Sunday.

The theme for the service was " Feast of Holy Family: Fidelity to God's Law". The Asantehene noted that governments change but the people remain the same at all times. He, therefore, asked the people to forgive each other of the mistakes and wrongs of the year and pool their human and natural resources to rebuild the nation for the benefit of the younger generation.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu advised the country's leaders, chiefs and those in authority to show concern for the welfare of their people. The Chairman of the Ashanti Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Reverend Dr Yaw Frimpong Manso, who preached the sermon, called for peace and unity in the family and the church. He said it was only when there was peaceful co-existence that the country could progress.

The Rev Dr Frimpong-Manso called on Ghanaians to be law-abiding and respect both their political and traditional leaders for national cohesion and stability. He, however, reminded both the chiefs and political leaders that they hold the country's wealth and resources in trust for the people and that they should on no account use them for their personal gains.

At the Ebenezer Miracle Centre at Ahenema Kokoben near Kumasi, the Reverend Ebenezer Adarkwa Yiadom, founder and leader of the church asked Ghanaians to do away with whatever wrong deeds that characterised their lives in the year and which made it impossible for them to find solutions to their problems. He was optimistic that the problems that afflict the people would give way to "victory, justice and peace".