Brotherhood church proposes extension of tenure of office of MPs

Kumasi, June 27, GNA-The Brotherhood Church has proposed an amendment to the country's constitution so as to extend the tenure of office of Members of Parliament (MPs) from the current four-year term to six years.

Primate S.K. Adofo, Spiritual Head and Leader of the Church, who made the proposal, said this is necessary since the current four years tenure of office for MPs is totally inadequate to assess their performance.

He was addressing the closing session of the 29th Annual Conference of the Church in Kumasi on Saturday under the theme, "Peaceful Election And National Integration, -The Role Of The Church". The Conference was attended by about 1,000 delegates and observers drawn from the country, Cote d'Ivoire and Togo.

Primate Adofo said if given six years mandate, "no MP can have any excuse for not being able to deliver nor account properly of his stewardship to the constituents".

He noted that in spite of the cultural diversity and several ethnic groupings in the country, Ghanaians still perceive themselves as one people but that political fanatism could undermine the prevailing unity if stringent measures were not instituted to check such a negative trend.

Primate Adofo therefore, appealed to churches to take bold and swift steps by embarking on massive campaigns for their congregations and the public to educate them more on the need to be tolerant of one another's views and the value of co-existence.

He said involvement of churches in such campaigns was crucial since fanatism, irrespective of the form, could lead to civil strife, communal violence and political upheavals, thereby resulting in destruction of human life and property.

Primate Adofo said the church as an institution forming a core part of society, would not also be spared should violence erupt hence the need for church leaders to get actively involved in campaigns against such fanatism to avoid their occurrence.

He was not happy that the church which is expected to be a model of hope and inspiration to others, has in recent times come under serious criticism just because of false claims to miracles by some of them and the concentration of messages on materialism instead of salvation.

Primate Adofo advised pastors engaged in false claims and negative acts to desist from them and spare the church of embarrassment and ridicule.