Ghanaians advised to

The Reverend Dr. Albert A. Akrong, a research fellow at the University of Ghana, Legon, on Thursday called on Ghanaians to develop a new mindset and change their attitude towards government.

He noted that the reading politics into every development or economic policy of government was the major cause of bitterness, hatred, and abuse of basic rights of many Ghanaians.

Rev. Dr. Akrong said these at the close of a two-day economic workshop organised by the Christian Council of Ghana in collaboration with the Centre for Policy Analysis at Takoradi (CEPA).

The research fellow, who spoke on: "The Role of the Church in Monitoring the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative in Ghana," urged all and sundry to demand accountability from their leaders.

Rev. Dr. Akrong said: ''Being unconcerned and refusing to participate in the decision making process deprive many people of the opportunity to liberate themselves from poverty.''

He noted that both the HIPC initiative and Christian philosophy wery meant to reduce poverty and to ensure the well being of the citizenry.

Rev. Dr Akrong, therefore, called on churches to draw strategic programmes aimed at reducing poverty among their members.

He also asked Christian leaders not to seek only the spiritual upliftement of followers but to assist in their socio-economic development.

" Myths and misinformation about government, security agencies and parliamentarians should to be changed.''

Dr Joseph L. S. Abbey, Executive Director of CEPA, said the diversion of major roads from their original locations partly contributed to the high poverty rate in the Central and parts of the Western regions.

Dr Abbey called on churches to re-focus their attention on the building of vocational institutions to equip the youth with skills required for development instead of concentrating on the establishment of universities.

He appealed to communities to ensure that funds earmarked for development were not misappropriated and to insist that projects were executed on schedule and according to specifications.

Dr Abbey urged churches to organise members to enable them to apply for credit facilities aimed at poverty reduction.