SUSTAINING THE SPIRIT OF SACRIFICE

TOPIC: SUSTAINING THE SPIRIT OF SACRIFICE

MEDIA HOUSE:

DATE: 12-09-2016

Prince Minkah: Good morning to you Rev. Dr. Opuni-Frempong and thanks very much for joining us.

Rev. Dr. Opuni-Frimpong: Prince let me say good morning to you, your team and your cherished listeners.

Prince: it’s a wonderful day and as our Muslimbrothers and sisters celebrated their day which is obvious especially looking at what Ibrahim did as far as Ishmael is concerned, what is your take home and what sort of message to be preached today?

Rev Dr. Opuni-Frimpong: Prince let me thank you for this opportunity and let me use your platform on behalf of Christian Council of Ghana to wish friends in the various Muslim groups well and wish them happy anniversary – the Ahmadiyya,Tujaniah, Sunni and others. But as you said the significance of this festival for friends in Islam is sacrifice. At the moment there are real challenges confronting both international and local communities that is peace calls for sacrifice. This morning you listen to the news in Syria and Aleppo, and even today such a holiday and the bombing and children, women dying and you realized that somebody must sacrifice. In our sub- region in Nigeria, Mali the kind of attacks we are having and in our own country we are close to election and we need peace, the indiscipline on our roads, the challenges confronting all of us and the need for us to sacrifice and so we will use this occasion to call on all religious leaders in this country and beyond that let us see how we can come together and use religion to facilitate the peace and development to the common good, the welfare that the international societies are calling for. Now Syria needs peace and harmony and Nigeria needs the same and even our own country we need cohesion, we need to value life and we need to value humanity and call for sacrifice and as we wish our friends well we will still see to it. Let religious leaders work out let us handle our own internal challenges and see how we can use religion to facilitate the harmony, the peace within and outside thatthe local and international communities are calling for. We need peace in Syria and we arealso close to election and we don’t need bloodshed. What we heard over the weekend in some parts of Accra; the clashes between the NPP and the NDC just has been debating and all that and religious leaders must sustain the sacrifice that today’s anniversary calls for.

Prince: Am glad you talk about Aleppo and of course what happened in Ghana in terms of what we need to do in ensuring peace but what as you talk to me here on Class 91.3 FM specific roles can religious leaders play some people have argued that politics seems to have divided the country for and you have said it before and I want you to reiterate and this time to be specific what specific roles can religious leaders play at this time I mean if you are a religious leader and you come with a bribery allegation you should be able to substantiate it rather than create confusion in the minds of Ghanaians and I am  being blank here on the part of Rev. Prof. Martey’s recent revelation. You said it’s about issues and religious issues must speak, what are your concerns?

Rev Dr. Opuni-Frimpong:now if you are talking about division in our system, we are close to election and what we need to do together, I will say we need a more healthier interface between religious leaders and political leaders. We are not at war. The seemingly tension between religion and politics in our part of the country or the world must be addressed because politicians need their religious leaders. I mean put Islam, Christianity and other religion together and our country is very religious and we must find a way religion will serve the need of ordinary people. Where we arethat is what we need. We don’t need any kind of interface that will add to the tension to the challenges we are going through, we need relationship the ordinary people can trust that my political leaders and religious leaders are together to solve problems against during conversation within the context of what today mean to us – Sacrifice that is what we need, anything outside that whether religion or from politics we must know that it is not in our interest journey with our people. If you ask me what we need to do I will say religious leaders must journey with their people, Christian leaders and Muslim leaders let us journey with our members who are politicians, they are part of us and they are not enemies to religious leaders, they are the best people we have and there are members that we have nurtured, talk in church and now just by God’s grace to serve a bigger interest of society. Let us be with them, they are not our enemies they are our partners and friends and together with them the sacrifice that today calls for. Let us all be there for the sake of ordinary peoplewhose rely on politicians and religious leaders for survival

Prince: As a nation how do we keep the recent revelation by Rev. Prof. Martey?

Rev Dr. Opuni-Frimpong: Prince I don’t think we need to reduce today’s anniversary and the platform. In fact your friend who called me also called me on today’s significance so I will want us to stay there

Prince: Before I let you go is there any specific message for our muslim brothers and sisters for now?

Rev Dr. Opuni-Frimpong: I will still repeat what I said earlier on that we wish them well. And because what today means especially for Muslim, is a day that other people or other religions can identify with ease if you are talking about sacrifice and it is also a message that it seems to me that the whole world and Ghana we are waiting for. Syria is calling for sacrifice, whoever, the United Nations,US, Russia and all those who can sacrifice for the guns to be silent in Syria must do it. So also in our own backyard in Nigeria so also in our own country. We need sacrifice to go through the 2016 general elections. The political leaders must give us that sacrifice and religious leaders must also give us that sacrifice. Young people must understand that message and if anything at all today that message be raised how many times for all of us to accept that we’ve reached a point that if anything at all where the card that we must all play across board is sacrificed.

Prince: Rev. I will give you the opportunity to wish our some Muslim brothers and sisters; you can mention their names and if there is any specific song you want me to play for them I will gladly do so for you.

Rev Dr. Opuni-Frimpong: The one that comes into mind quickly is the National Chief Imam. Our father has demonstrated and I’ve been to all kinds of meetings with him and this man means well for Christians, Muslims and our country. The leader also for the Ahmadiyya Movement is also another wonderful man and I wish him well and today we wish him well. The spokesperson of the national Chief Imam my own Sheikh Sharabutu my own friend we are in together, we are pushing for inter-faith harmony, at the moment we’ve launch a program for sensitization among young people and we are going round the country just to be sure that close to election the young people in this country will not make themselves available for violence and my friend Sheikh Arimeyaw; I wish him well. I want to use your platform to wish my own Christian Council staffwho is also Muslims and those in the media. Above let us sustain the spirit of sacrifice.

Prince: Thank you very much Rev. Dr. Opuni for speaking to us.

Rev Dr. Opuni-Frimpong: God bless you and have a good day