A former General Secretary for the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev. Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong has accused politicians in Ghana of milking the nation through corruption.
He said both past and present government officials have not proved to anybody that they are serious with the corruption fight.
This, he said was because politicians are benefiting from the nation through corruption.
“They are all benefiting from it. Now going into politics has become business. They are all milking the nation. Therefore, if I found the government official just doing this when I heard it in the room. It sounds like a cliché,” he added
A Senior Presidential Adviser, Mr Yaw Osafo Maafo, had called on Christians to lead the fight against corruption.
Addressing the 23rd General Meeting of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana at Kwahu Abetifi in the Eastern Region on Saturday, August 19, 2023, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo questioned the quality of moral impact of the church, as 70 percent of Ghanaians profess to be Christians.
Mr Osafo-Maafo said corruption was growing from bad to worse in Ghana which calls for retrospection by the church and government to find practical solutions to reduce the menace.
“I think we need to go back and visit the drawing board to see what we should do as a christian group to influence the behaviour of the system, is it that your preachings, your moral lessons are now not effective? We should ask a few questions, if indeed 70 percent of us are christians and corruption begins to go from bad to worse, what is really happening. We need to do some retrospection together as a country with the government taking certain actions to redeem the nation from corruption,” he added
But reacting to that call in a radio interview with Accra based Starr FM on Wednesday, August 23, 2023, Rev Opuni-Frimpong said the call was a “political sound bite.”
“Past and present governments have not proved to anybody that they are serious with the corruption fight. They have just made the corruption fight a political sound bite.”
Questioning the basis for Mr Osafo-Maafo’s question and call for christians to fight corruption, Rev Opuni Frimpong said the government only requests for evidence when government appointees are sighted for corruption.
“I was expecting what he said should come from a Pastor, even if they clap for him. Going back he must ask himself what exactly he was telling us. Is fighting corruption a church business? What are we hearing from Parliament? The kind of things from Ministries and all that they go to Parliament for on the Auditor General’s Report.
“You expect Pastors and Bishops to do what? How many people (accused of corruption) even from the government’s own side even those that people have brought up, what have we heard? Bring evidence. Is that not what the pattern has been over the years?” Rev Opuni-Frimpong stated.
He continued: “You leave all your cabinet meetings only to go and stand before innocent church people and ask them you are 72 percent what? You are in government, you are on cabinet, you advise President, and the question of why should come to him. Not to Pastors, not church members. So to me what I heard in the room is a political soundbite.”