The Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference has bemoaned the rise of profligacy under the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.
According to the men of God, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s promise to protect the public purse has failed.
Its president, Most Rev. Philip Naameh, at this year’s plenary assembly of the association in Wa, capital of the Upper West Region, said: “Though poverty stares us in the face, it appears lost to those with power”.
“The expressed commitment of the president of the republic to protect the public purse – a promise that citizens welcomed – seems to be an illusion now”, Most Rev. Philip Naameh noted.
He wondered: “Are those managing the public purse not concerned about [the] waste and misapplication of resources that belong to all Ghanaians?”
“Can this be referred to as irresponsible use of power or the lack of compassion and empathy?” he asked.
The cleric said “those who are entrusted with power that comes from our collective will must know that what they do with that, shapes what we all will become in the future”.
These observations by the Catholic Bishops Conference ties in to a post-election report by the Centre for Democratic Development-Ghana’s Afrobarometer in August 2021.
It said while Ghanaians are split in their opinion on the Akufo-Addo government’s ability to ensure that rule of law is upheld, the majority (62 per cent), however, are not confident in the ability of the president and his government to protect the country’s financial resources and curb corruption in the next four years.
