Keep your partisan politics to yourselves - Prof. Asante tells clergy

The Chairman of National Peace Council Prof. Emmanuel Asante has entreated the clergy to as a matter of urgency keep their political affiliations to themselves ahead of the December polls.

He believes religious leaders disclosing their political colours will be detrimental to the positions they hold.

According to him, pastors have prophetic roles to play when the nation is falling into the ditch.

‘Though you have a political preference, but as a pastor, it becomes your private affair, you should keep your party affiliation to yourself, yours is to advise your members who engage in politics in the Christian way, by telling them to tell the truth in line of politics devoid of mayhem, and be law abiding, if government implements a policy which will not serve the interest of the nation, we can criticise it, but it doesn’t mean we hate the government, vice versa,’ he admonished.

Speaking on Abusua FM’s Abusua Nkommo hosted by Kwame Adinkrah, he charged the clergy to be neutral and desist from partisan politics as it has the tendency of destroying churches.

‘I am a pastor and so cannot engage in partisan politics but sometimes the parties try to brush some of us with party colours, though they will accuse us, we should try to be neutral,’ he said.

Prof. Asante indicated that church members who do not belong to a pastor’s church will feel alienated.

He observed that engaging in partisan politics will bring enmity among church members.

‘I believe that if a pastor heads a church, he is the eye of the nation as well, there are church members with different political affiliations, so if you are a pastor and you disclose your political affiliation or endorse a particular party, you are dividing the church and those who are not in the same party with you will be alienated instead of bringing them together,’ he explained.

The Chairman of National Peace Council urged Ghanaians to engage in clean politics and desist from politics of insults.