Don’t excite ethnic and religious passions - Lecturer

A lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the Reverend Dr. Nathan Samwini, has cautioned politicians not to do anything to excite religious or ethnic passions in their desperate bid to win political power.

He said wooing voters by appealing to their strong feelings on religion or ethnicity could be counter-productive and dangerous to the peace, unity and stability of the country.

The Rev. Dr. Samwini of the Religious Studies Department said this in a speech read for him at an inter-faith meeting held in Kumasi under the theme “One nation, many faith”.

The programme organized by the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) in collaboration with the KNUST brought together people from different religious backgrounds to discuss ways of protecting the prevailing peace.

The lecturer said the fact that Ghana had not experienced any major religious conflict should neither deceive nor make anybody to take things for granted.

He said the expectation was that the political leaders and their followers would show responsibility and focus on issues that would promote harmony and cohesion of the society and how to transform the socio-economic situation of the people.

The Rev. Dr. Samwini encouraged religious, community and opinion leaders to continue to preach peace and help to stave off needless tension or nasty clashes.

The Rev Dr. Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, General-Secretary of the Christian Council, said the programme was part of the effort to ensure religious tolerance, describing this as vital to the growth of the society.

The Council, he said, would continue to work hard and strengthen its engagement with leaders of the various religious faith to promote good understanding.