To Hell with the so-called Government-backed pilgrimage

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Dumega Prosper Jnr. 12 years ago

Can the population be hungry, thirsty and no power to liten up their rooms and enable students study and operations are made on patients without interuption and school fees not been easily paid by deserving students and yet s ...
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Can the population be hungry, thirsty and no power to liten up their rooms and enable students study and operations are made on patients without interuption and school fees not been easily paid by deserving students and yet still people will take a whooping amount of money of $600,000 to enable the pastors travel?????
Something may not be right in this judgement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
REV AYITEY TSURU 12 years ago

I DONT TRUST ANY POLITICIAN, BE THEY NDC OR NPP. THEY ARE ALL CORRUPT AND ONLY CARE ABOUT THEMSELVES. MAHAMA IS A SURPRISE, BUT THE PROBLEM IS THE PASTORS.

A GOD-FEARING PASTOR WOULD REJECT THIS OFFER OUTRIGHT. IT IS NOT B ...
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I DONT TRUST ANY POLITICIAN, BE THEY NDC OR NPP. THEY ARE ALL CORRUPT AND ONLY CARE ABOUT THEMSELVES. MAHAMA IS A SURPRISE, BUT THE PROBLEM IS THE PASTORS.

A GOD-FEARING PASTOR WOULD REJECT THIS OFFER OUTRIGHT. IT IS NOT BIBLICAL TO GO ON A PILGRIMAGE TO PRAY. UNLIKE MUSLIMS, JESUS DID NOT ASK US TO VISIT HIS BIRTHPLACE. THE BIBLE NEVER ASKED US TO GO TO ISRAEL TO PRAY TO GOD.

THESE GHANAIAN PASTORS ARE A DISGRACE. THEY HAVE BECOME PROSTITUTES OF THE CORRUPT POLITICIANS. SHAME ON THE PASTORS INVOLVED IN THIS.

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE REVEAL THEIR NAMES?
Kofi 12 years ago

Rev. Tsuru, you haven't fully identified the problem. The problem is not with the pastors but the FAKE pastors. There are too many people parading the streets of Ghana as pastors who are anything but pastors. These are fake p ...
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Rev. Tsuru, you haven't fully identified the problem. The problem is not with the pastors but the FAKE pastors. There are too many people parading the streets of Ghana as pastors who are anything but pastors. These are fake pastors. These the the people who should normally have been providing labour on farms to increase food production but have found a more lucrative way of making money. No true pastors will suscribe to this. They all belong to the soon to be inaugurated Ghana Association of Fake Pastors (GAFPa).
Tetteh Asagba 12 years ago

This has nothing to do with pastors, fake or real. After all from the reports that have been heard, the pastors did not go to beg the government to sponsor them. It was the other way around that the government proposed to spo ...
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This has nothing to do with pastors, fake or real. After all from the reports that have been heard, the pastors did not go to beg the government to sponsor them. It was the other way around that the government proposed to sponsor the pastors.

In all this the it is the Ghanaian populace that should be blamed for putting UNQUALIFIED PEOPLE, NDC AND NPP, in power all the time.

We can all see that for the last twenty years these selfish, unqualified, selfish thieves have been raping the country and we continue to put them right back at the helm of affairs.

What do we expect? If you engage a painter to build a house for you, you should sleep with one eye open
mensah abrampa 12 years ago

The evil and corrupt pastors are in bed with an evil and corrupt administration. People of that ilk are comfortable with each other and always cooperate on matters of common interests. The Mahama led NDC administration does n ...
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The evil and corrupt pastors are in bed with an evil and corrupt administration. People of that ilk are comfortable with each other and always cooperate on matters of common interests. The Mahama led NDC administration does not surprise me a little bit but I'm deeply troubled by the flawed judgement of the so-called men of God. Do they consider the Israel trip to be of a higher priority than providing for the numerous needs of millions of ghanaians many of whom go to bed hungry and have no access to the basic necessities of life? The Mahama administration has proven itself as the most inept and corrupt we've encountered as a nation but the pastors have really exposed themselves as greedy and serving not the God of Abraham , Isaac and Jacob but the worldly and evil gods of greed, corruption,debauchery,etc. Even if the pastors did not go begging the government shouldn't we expect the men of God to be guided by good conscience, the fear and love of God, charity and compassion towards all men especially the poor and needy in accepting the offer from a corrupt administration? "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and in their affliction, and keep himself unspotted from the world."(James 1:27). Our eyes are being opened everyday about the nebulous concept of these pastors religiosity and spirituality. Shame on the pastors who make their beds with an evil and corrupt administration !
ELINAM 12 years ago

Ghana is neither a christian nor a muslim nation. Our nation is a multi religious state. As a matter of fact the traditionalist have more say even than any other group, because that's where we reference our moral and culture ...
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Ghana is neither a christian nor a muslim nation. Our nation is a multi religious state. As a matter of fact the traditionalist have more say even than any other group, because that's where we reference our moral and culture values from.
If these groups of Ghanaians are not been sponsored to go on pilgrimage, then no one shouldn't.
Let's make a law to separate church from state.
C.Y. ANDY-K 12 years ago

Emmanuel, I didn't read your piece otherwise I'd have told u that the intellectual bankruptcy of highly educated Africans has been lamented for a long, long time. Not that being intelligent and skilled in your field of study ...
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Emmanuel, I didn't read your piece otherwise I'd have told u that the intellectual bankruptcy of highly educated Africans has been lamented for a long, long time. Not that being intelligent and skilled in your field of study or specialisation doesn't make you an intellectual, but an expert in your field of study.

And intellectual, in brief, is someone of high education, by whichever means, making statements of policy on subjects other than his own field of specialisation, on how society should be organised or regulated, for instance. If a Political Scientist makes such a statement, he is seen more as an expert- a pol. science theorist, not an intellectual. But if a medical doctor makes such a statement, then he is playing the role of an intellectual.

Now, it is a fact that a vast proportion is highly educated Africans are just dead beat when it comes intellectualsing. They lack the wide reading - knowledge, sagacity, fecundity and rigour to address subjects other than their own areas of specialisation.

Unfortunately, our so-called leaders are drawn from the class of this narrow-minded and ignorant educated people with no firm grounding in any political philosophies. Thus, the concept of separation of religion from the state is something they don't even understand. Mills, and now Mahama, have thus dragged the state into the religious arena beyond what is permissible, with the bizarre consequences we are witnessing now.

Look, my friend, we are dealing with backward people who are said to be developing. Are they? I doubt. Rather, I see the dedifferentiation which is a deepening of the periphery-metropole divide, with people turning more to the supernatural as the emergent Global Apartheid some tout as global capitalism takes a grip on the South.

C.Y. Andy-K
sbrooks 12 years ago

Love the fact that you as a man defend the Black race and whether Blacks are more inherently stupid than other races? God bless you for it. What I have always struggled with is the question of whether Blacks are more inherent ...
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Love the fact that you as a man defend the Black race and whether Blacks are more inherently stupid than other races? God bless you for it. What I have always struggled with is the question of whether Blacks are more inherently greedy than other races. Even though my common sense tells me this couldn't be right (we didn't invent greed) It afflicts us a people with the most devastating effect because we are simply unable to afford it. When you pocket rape an entire nation,everyone suffers. Others leaders in other nations are just as lousy and as stupid as any African leader however, their greed (as well as their shortsightedness just doesn't have the same impact. The Black elite in many countries constitute the biggest threat to Black posterity not through stupidity but through selfishness.
mensah abrampa 12 years ago

Andy,it's unfair to put such a big label and make such an unwholesome judgement on a whole race of people just because of the behavior of some among us.I have traveled far and wide and have come to the conclusion that God cr ...
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Andy,it's unfair to put such a big label and make such an unwholesome judgement on a whole race of people just because of the behavior of some among us.I have traveled far and wide and have come to the conclusion that God created all men equal and in His image and likeness. There are good men everywhere you go just as there are bad men .All men, including black Africans were born in the image of God our Father. He begat us like unto Himself.There is the nature of deity in the composition of our spiritual organization. In our spiritual birth, our Father transmitted to us the capabilities, powers and faculties which He Himself possessed, as much so as the child on its mother's bosom possesses, although in an undeveloped state, the faculties, powers and susceptibilities of its parent.We have divinity within ourselves. He also gave us the freedom to choose for ourselves. We are agents unto ourselves, either to choose the course of deity or choose evil.
God has prepared for each people a place that is best for their growth and development and has placed them there in the fashion that best suits their needs and his plans for them. The world would be a much better place if the differences of culture, race and tribe can be overcome.
Black Africans are not intellectually bankrupt though a number of us make that assumption. We are just as good as any other people anywhere. What seems to be wrong with us as a people is we're still battling the effects of colonization, neo-colonialism and a high illiteracy rate and even with the highly educated among us they have shared values and problems with their kith and kin. We appear to be rather confused, electing time and time again the incompetent and corrupt but most vociferous among us. Our common fears and insecurities unite us and we tend to bond together not as a nation but as tribesmen and identify with political parties for self preservation and protection.
There are good people among all of our tribes and political parties. What we need to do is for all the good people from all of our various tribal groups to come together for the good of the entire nation. The way it is right now favors corrupt politicians from all of our tribes and it's in their supreme interest to maintain the status quo that does nobody any good. Let's not give up on ourselves. Better days are ahead if only we'll quickly learn the lessons of life that spiritual peace and temporal welfare are not to be found in race, culture, tribe and even nationalituy but rather through our commitment to God. If we truly love God we will also love our fellow men as ourselves.
C.Y. ANDY-K 12 years ago

Mensah, you really epitomises what others see as the intellectual bankruptcy of Africans? Are you a pastor? Are you trained in divinity? If not, you are trying to intellectualise on a subject your are not trained or educated ...
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Mensah, you really epitomises what others see as the intellectual bankruptcy of Africans? Are you a pastor? Are you trained in divinity? If not, you are trying to intellectualise on a subject your are not trained or educated in and you had failed woefully! God! God! God! in spite of those who brought us the Christian God having abandoned that myth of a god creating 6000+ yrs ago the universe, humans, etc., etc., centuries ago! Have you ever heard of evolution, light years, black holes, Higgs boson or particle they had dug miles upon miles under the Swiss Alps in order to reproduce???

Man! You are indeed lost, just as those behind the crazy idea to lift some pastors to Israel! Most educated Africans are just plain not intellectual at all. They know nothing beyond their field of study to enable them to display the intellectual acumen and sagacity that comes from wide-ranging knowledge, covering many fields, so that they can marry various fields such as economic, politics, human rights, environmental concerns, etc. as exhibited in various countries and come out with policy formulations to suit our own countries in Africa. Most are just dead beats and they are the ones often ruling us! Even the few Professors that got into Parliament were said to be "mumus" by Bagbin! What do we expect, when such Profs don't even publish anything in our local newspapers, not to mention journals abroad, since academic journals don't exist in Ghana! Even publishing "Legon Observer" was a big task for them! BTW, is it still in existence?

BTW, intellectuals and intelligentsia are different from political leaders, not to mention illiterates!

Andy-K

mensah abrampa 12 years ago

I'm not a pastor but I can tell the difference between good and evil.Truth has no boundaries and it's eternal.I believe in science but I dont believe in evolution. Do you have any problem with that? Was it not science that to ...
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I'm not a pastor but I can tell the difference between good and evil.Truth has no boundaries and it's eternal.I believe in science but I dont believe in evolution. Do you have any problem with that? Was it not science that told us once that the earth was flat and one could fall off its edge. That all have changed. Science is as imperfect as man himself.It is inconsistent. "O the vainess, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise , and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profits them not.......... But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God".
I respect your beliefs but you have to respect other people's beliefs otherwise you dont deserve any respect at all.
C.Y. ANDY-K 12 years ago

No, Mensah, you don't really believe in science. If you do, you'd believe in evolution!

And, it was religion that claimed that the earth was flat, thus negating centuries of thought through observation dating back to Gree ...
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No, Mensah, you don't really believe in science. If you do, you'd believe in evolution!

And, it was religion that claimed that the earth was flat, thus negating centuries of thought through observation dating back to Greek times. Yes, when Galileo and others, through scientific studies tried to revive the notion that the earth was flat and the earth revolves around the sun - not the other way round - the Inquisition came hard on him! It was only in the mid-1980s that the Catholic Church grudgingly officially admitted that they were wrong!

There is no way that one can be expected to respect false beliefs and claims. We must show our disdain at falsehood and reject it! That's not disrespecting the carrier of such falsehood.

Andy-K
MARCUS AMPADU 12 years ago

Andy-K, you did make an attempt to define the term intellectual, but you ended up with a fuzzy definition. For example, the distinction you were trying to make between the intellectual roles of a political science theorist an ...
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Andy-K, you did make an attempt to define the term intellectual, but you ended up with a fuzzy definition. For example, the distinction you were trying to make between the intellectual roles of a political science theorist and medical doctor ended up lacking in clarity.

To me an intellectual is someone who deals with big broad abstractions and ideas. They can change society or hold it down. Those intellectuals that do positive job, delving below the surface as well as extending their wings, are able to see links and connections, and integrate disparate parts into a systematic and holistic thought.

Without a doubt books , computers and reading feed the intellect. Not all books and computers, however, are academic and scholarly.

Can one be highly educated and still be intellectually bankrupt ? Does intellectual bankruptcy extend to highly educated Asians and Europeans, or it is limited to only highly educated Africans? We have to be careful how we frame such statements, Andy-K.

In my view, Kwame Nkrumah Ghana's First President, and Ngugi wa Thiong'o, a novelist and theorist of post-colonial literature and Distinguished Prof. of the Dept. Comparative Literature and English at the Univ. of California
Irvine are highly educated African intellectuals. who
Nii Akwei 12 years ago

Mahama and the so called pastors are the same people. Mahama will smell pepper before the of the year.

Mahama and the so called pastors are the same people. Mahama will smell pepper before the of the year.
Afram 12 years ago

I am glad that Mr Owusu-Ansah has made this compelling case against the govt's offer of sending some pastors to Israel. As a Christian it is one of my dreams tovisit Israel and i am pleased that many of my church's pastors ...
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I am glad that Mr Owusu-Ansah has made this compelling case against the govt's offer of sending some pastors to Israel. As a Christian it is one of my dreams tovisit Israel and i am pleased that many of my church's pastors have visited Jerusalem, and at their own expense.
I am beginning to believe that the allegation of the govt rigging the elections is not only true, but also has become monstrous nightmare for the administration. If Mr Mahama wants to be free, it will be beneficial for him to confess to Ghanaians and God and stop all those window-dressing solutions.
Mr Owusu-Ansah, i am very encouraged that we still have people like u around, i am with u, but don't ever defend the notion that the black race has serious issues, please. One does not need rocket science to know this.thank u for your article. kwadwo36@hotmail.com
Araba Stamp 12 years ago

We will remain as fools so long we beleived what the white man told us.
He came and told us we are ancestors of Adam and an Eve so refuse to search for our roots.

We will remain as fools so long we beleived what the white man told us.
He came and told us we are ancestors of Adam and an Eve so refuse to search for our roots.
Davpds 12 years ago

This gov'ment is confused and crazy
Supreme court shd save us

This gov'ment is confused and crazy
Supreme court shd save us
David 12 years ago

Shame to NDC/Mahama

Shame to NDC/Mahama
Nii Joromi 12 years ago

They waste so much when a few dollars would significantly change the lives of rural communities.

They waste so much when a few dollars would significantly change the lives of rural communities.
KAMM,MINNESOTA U.S.A 12 years ago

I pity the future of Ghana because of these illiterate N.D.C crooks who ruling Ghana.
John mahama wants to bribe every influential person in Ghana to show some mercy on him because he wants to be president at all cost. From ...
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I pity the future of Ghana because of these illiterate N.D.C crooks who ruling Ghana.
John mahama wants to bribe every influential person in Ghana to show some mercy on him because he wants to be president at all cost. From traditional authorities,ladies in the universities and now pastors. what does N.D.C government take Ghanaians for? People with no intelligent quotient?The economy is broke ,no water,no Gas,no electricity,increase in fuel prices,bad road networkS,high school fees,losses for market women,coLlapse of the NHIS and all that N.D.C could tell Ghanaians is,keep quiet and suffer while it tries to send pastors to Israel for jolly making.I want to ask Elvis Afriyie Ankrah did he has even an amount of $5000 in his account before he became the deputy minister for local government and rural development? if not then he should be careful and think about ordinary Ghanaian.He says the supposedly amount for the pilgrimage is not $2 million but $6000000 he is a joker does he know that with simple materials that amount can build simple apartment houses for those sleeping on the streets of Accra who queued and voted which they stole their mandate to rule? or pay some part of the free education? or fixed some of the acute problems the country is facing?or pay some service providers of the NHIS?and thereby reduce the hardship of the sick?
Elvis afriyie and his like minded greedy and insensitive cohorts should rescind this decision and channel the money to proper thing because God will never listen to this prayers while they continue to rule the Nation with deception and lies and loot the coffers to build mansions for their families and girl friends at the expense of the shoe-maker,kayayee,the truck pusher,the ice-cream seller and the pure water seller.Their days are numbered because with this bogus decision I can see that their minds are only pre-conceived with no ideas which can move the Nation forward and no amount of bribery of the people of Ghana can liberate them from shame which is about to befall them.

SYDNEY 12 years ago

IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE SMALL BOYS IN NDC DONT RECOGNIZE THE NEEDS OF GHANA AS TROKOSIS AND KAYAYEIS SUFFER DAILY THRO HARSH ECONOMIC REALITIES.......THEY EASILY RODE ON JJ'S BACK TO FAME AND POWER SO KIDS LIKE OKUDZETO, FELIX ...
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IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE SMALL BOYS IN NDC DONT RECOGNIZE THE NEEDS OF GHANA AS TROKOSIS AND KAYAYEIS SUFFER DAILY THRO HARSH ECONOMIC REALITIES.......THEY EASILY RODE ON JJ'S BACK TO FAME AND POWER SO KIDS LIKE OKUDZETO, FELIX, AGYENIM BOATENG, AFRIYIE ANKRAH, ETC ETC ALWAYS BEHAVE LIKE LIFE IS SO SO EASY....COME TO THE NORTH AND SEE HOW ANIMALS STILL SHARE WATER FROM SAME DAM WITH HUMAN BEIGNS....THIS AMOUNT COULD SUPPLY MANY BOREHOLES FOR CLEAN WATER FOR GHANAIANS BUT THESE STUPID KIDS IN NDC ARE SERIOUSLY TRYING TO BEHAVE AS IF ALL IS WELL IN GHANA.....ei ndc ide bii keke
Left Critic 12 years ago

This problem goes beyond Mahama and the NDC and NPP. The whole nation is in a state rapture 24/7, praying, wailing and citing the bible with nauseating regularity. The politicians and our so-called intellectual are no differe ...
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This problem goes beyond Mahama and the NDC and NPP. The whole nation is in a state rapture 24/7, praying, wailing and citing the bible with nauseating regularity. The politicians and our so-called intellectual are no different. It is the story of a desperate and destitute people seeking magical answers for their unbearable troubles and of "pastors" only too happy to serve up infantile fictions for a little fee.
Mike Olongo, USA 12 years ago

Mr President, this is poor judgment indeed. Please convene an emergency meeting with your Ministers and parliamentarians and repeal any laws backing such sponsorships. Any funds taken from the state coffers to do business oth ...
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Mr President, this is poor judgment indeed. Please convene an emergency meeting with your Ministers and parliamentarians and repeal any laws backing such sponsorships. Any funds taken from the state coffers to do business other than the people's business is considered misappropriated.
Mankind 12 years ago

Emmanuel, as a Ghanaian, the actions of all African leaders make me think that the black race is inferior. All of the are stupid and ignorant. They are a disgrace to humanity!!

Emmanuel, as a Ghanaian, the actions of all African leaders make me think that the black race is inferior. All of the are stupid and ignorant. They are a disgrace to humanity!!
MARCUS AMPADU 12 years ago

No where in our 1992 Constitution is it stated that our tax cedis and pesewas can be used to pay for the pilgrimage of Ghanaians to visit and worship at holy sites or shrines wherever they are on planet Earth.

Ergo, it is ...
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No where in our 1992 Constitution is it stated that our tax cedis and pesewas can be used to pay for the pilgrimage of Ghanaians to visit and worship at holy sites or shrines wherever they are on planet Earth.

Ergo, it is unconstitutional for any government of Ghana to use the nation's money to sponsor or support any Ghanaian pilgrim. Even those who get stranded on their trip would not receive any government help. Case closed!
MARCUS AMPADU 12 years ago

No where in our 1992 Constitution is it stated that our tax cedis and pesewas can be used to pay for the pilgrimage of Ghanaians to visit and worship at holy sites or shrines wherever they are on planet Earth.

Ergo, it is ...
read full comment

No where in our 1992 Constitution is it stated that our tax cedis and pesewas can be used to pay for the pilgrimage of Ghanaians to visit and worship at holy sites or shrines wherever they are on planet Earth.

Ergo, it is unconstitutional for any government of Ghana to use the nation's money to sponsor or support any Ghanaian pilgrim. Even those who get stranded on their trip would not receive any government help. Case closed!
Ghanatta Ayaric 12 years ago

Misplaced priorities! Are we surprised many non-Africans have a distorted image of Africa and Africans, when we make ourselves so laughable?

Misplaced priorities! Are we surprised many non-Africans have a distorted image of Africa and Africans, when we make ourselves so laughable?
Atikopo#1 12 years ago

Hajj?

Hajj?
Kofi 12 years ago

Well stated my good friend. I came across the story of government paying for priest to go on a pilgrimage yesterday. I could not believe the story, if true.

It is so pathetic that the people of Ghana allow themselves to b ...
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Well stated my good friend. I came across the story of government paying for priest to go on a pilgrimage yesterday. I could not believe the story, if true.

It is so pathetic that the people of Ghana allow themselves to be duped by such morons as those voted to represent them. What good does it do the country where electricity is rationed to send hypocrites who call themselves priest on a damn vacation, with $10,000 per diem. You mean the country couldn't find better use of $600,000? Whao!

OMG! And we wonder why its hard to make the argument that blacks are superior to whites.
Nyame Ekuma 12 years ago

Useless article. Go and tell America to stop the defense shield program and give the monet ro rhe poor .

Is the money for u ? Nonsense. Is it govt money ? Nonsense. U damn mother fucker atheist who has made his belly his ...
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Useless article. Go and tell America to stop the defense shield program and give the monet ro rhe poor .

Is the money for u ? Nonsense. Is it govt money ? Nonsense. U damn mother fucker atheist who has made his belly his god. Fool

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To Hell with the so-called Government-backed pilgrimage

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