THE ASANTEHENE, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has sternly cautioned quack men of God in the country who are fond of labeling the aged in society as witches and wizards to quickly refrain from doing so.
The King observed with concern that the actions and false prophesies of such fake men of God have usually ended up breaking some homes, with its attendant hardships and other problems.
The Asantehene therefore warned fake men of God to desist from always giving false prophesies about the aged in society for peace and unity of the various homes in the country to be maintained.
This was contained in a speech read on behalf of the Asantehene, by Nana Ampofo Kyei Baffuor, the Asemhene during the ninth anniversary celebration of the Society for the Aged, Ghana (SOFAAR.)
He said some innocent elderly people had unjustifiably suffered brutalities at the hands of their own children and relations who ideally were supposed to be taking proper care of them because of false prophesies by some men of God.
The Asantehene, who seemed annoyed about the development, stressed on the need for the society to begin to pamper and show concern to the aged, stressing “old age is a blessing from God.”
Former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, on her part, called for good parenting in the country in order to stop the recent development whereby children, the future leaders, were leading bad lifestyles.
According to her most of Ghana’s youth of today were indulging in bad practices such as prostitution, armed robbery, smoking of Indian and alcoholism because of poor parenting.
Nana Konadu said it was time for parents to begin to show commitment in the training of their children, stating that a child who was properly trained at home by his parents could easily avoid peer pressure.
Like Otumfuo, she also called on Ghanaians to begin to show love and affection to the aged in society, stressing on the need for grownup children to take proper care of their mothers and fathers so they would live long.
Rev. M.K. Aduboffuor, CEO, SOFAAR charged government to begin to display support for the aged in society, deploring the current situation where the aged were being neglected by the state.
He noted that the aged in Ghana were being poorly treated and rejected by their family members; a situation which was not good to write home about, calling for the change of attitude by Ghanaians on the aged living among them.
The nine years anniversary of SOFAAR was under the theme ‘The Importance of Aged People In Democratic Development,’ and it was held at the Jubilee Park, Kumasi.