Pastor Condemns Registration Mafias

Rev. Dr. Opuni Frimpong

REV. DR. OPUNI Frimpong, Chairperson of the Asante Presbytery, has descended heavily on the gangsters that stormed some registration centers to mar this year's national biometric registration exercise, saying their behaviour created panic among the masses.

He said the hoodlums that forcibly snatched laptops and other key gadgets being used by EC officials to register people to enable them vote during the 2012 polls did the wrong thing in the sight of both God and man.

Rev. Dr. Frimpong has therefore warned them not to repeat their actions when Ghanaians go to the polls to elect their next president and law makers in December.

He made the remarks whilst addressing the large number of people that attended a one-day Inter Party Peace Workshop, organized by the Asante Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana aimed at ensuring peaceful polls.

He warned that attempts by some groups of people to destroy the electoral process could trigger unnecessary fear among the people, warning those that have evil intentions about the electoral process to forgo them now.

He said some amount of tension during elections was normal but charged all stakeholders including the Church to play leading roles to control the tension that had characterized the impending elections.

The man of God said the Church should maintain its enviable position as an institution of trust by staying neutral during the elections so that they could be relied upon for mediation when the need arose.

Rev. Dr. Frimpong consequently warned churches against associating with political parties or offering their platforms for them to campaign, pointing out that such actions could make the Church lose its respect and high status in society.

According to him, if the Church was not careful the NPP and NDC canker which had polarized the country could grip it as well, reiterating that churches must try to stay politically neutral at all times.

He said under no circumstance should human blood be spilled because of elections, charging the Church to educate their members to stay away from trouble before, during and after the elections.

The further urged the electorate to vote for a president who was God fearing, patriotic and had Ghana's interest at heart regardless of tribal, ethnic considerations.

Rev. Dr. Frimpong said the success of the impeding polls depended largely on the efficiency of the media, admonishing journalists to be neutral and fair as the general elections swiftly approaches.

He observed that political party representatives, notably from the two main political parties – the NPP and NDC that speak on radio usually utter words that tend to create tension and fear and   cautioned the media to uphold their gate-keeping role by stopping indecent and intemperate language.

  FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi