Don't disassociate yourselves from politics - Bishop

Kpandai, (N/R), Oct. 17, GNA - The Archbishop of the Tamale Dioceses of the Catholic Church, Most Reverend Gregory Kpiebaya, has urged Christians not to disassociate themselves from politics, but must be actively engaged in all activities in the country. He said, "If one is a Christian does not mean one should be excluded from politics. Indeed a Christian life must be both civic and religious and as a citizen, one has the responsibility towards one's society".

Archbishop Kpiebaya was speaking at a Sunday Mass in Kpandai, during a Pastoral visit and also to inaugurate a 133-million-cedi four-classroom-block, constructed for the community. He urged Christians to be more concerned about the welfare of the society in which they lived.

The Arcbishop bemoaned the over-dependent of Ghanaians on the government alone to provide them with all their basic needs, pointing out that, the first interest in society development must always come from members of the communities.

"Ghanaians must learn to do things on their own for others to come and support them," and cited the roads in Kpandai area to buttress his point.

He said, "Roads leading to communities in the Kpandai area were in deplorable state but the people were waiting on the government to come and work on them",

He urged them to change their attitude and rekindle the self-help spirit among themselves to undertake development projects to improve their living conditions.

Archbishop Kpiebaya inaugurating the school, said the success of the school would depend largely on the teachers and appealed to them to be dedicated and committed to their profession and render quality services to the students.

The Tamale Ecclesiastical Provincial Pastoral Conference (TEPPCON), a catholic NGO in collaboration with Saint Petronnilla, a twin church in Germany, financed the school project for the Saint Kizito's Primary in Kpandai

The East Gonja District Assembly provided 25 million cedis for the project while the community also offered communal labour. Archbishop Kpiebaya said education had been one of the accomplishments of the church and appealed to parents and other stakeholders in education to ensure that children of school going age were enrolled into school.

"No parent should keep the boy at home to shepherd cows or confine the girls to the kitchen instead of allow them to go to school". In a speech read on behalf, the East Gonja District Chief Executive, Mr Abudu Amadu Musah, appealed to the people to endeavour to encourage peaceful co-existence in the area to promote development. He urged the people to embrace the National Health Insurance Scheme by registering to access quality healthcare delivery. Miss Agnes Gandaa, TEPPCON-Partnership Coordinator, noted that education was the key to reducing poverty and therefore parents' refusal to send their children to school would continue to make poverty endemic. She appealed to the people to take issues of justice seriously to reduce the incidence of land, chieftaincy, religious and intra ethnic conflicts in the area.

She urged the community to take good care of the school to ensure its lifespan for more school children to benefit. The Regent of Kpandai, Nana Ayadong Bawu appealed to the Catholic Church to provide the area with a senior secondary school or a technical school to promote education in the area.