Accra, April 2, GNA - Christ's death must remind leaders of the need to sacrifice their time and resources for the benefit of the people they claim to lead, Pastor Jonas Henaku of the Transformed Life Ministry has said. He said: "The message of the cross is not only about the propitiation for the sins of mankind, which restored us to God, but also as an example of leadership style worthy to emulate." Speaking on Good Friday to Transformed Life Ministry members at Labone in Accra, Pastor Henaku said "Our quest for power and leadership positions should not be for personal interest and gains but an ambition towards nation building and development. "Political leaders, spiritual leaders and other forms of leadership should not make their position and ambition a career to enrich themselves at the expense of their people. They should learn to sacrifice in love and in concern for the happiness and freedom of their people." He said. Pastor Henaku said Christ laid down His life for mankind and the whole world was celebrating adding that the nations' developments have been the result of some sacrifices made by good leaders and Ghana was not an exception.

"We will not forget people like Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Sergeant Adjetey and the rest, who laid down their lives to fight for freedom and justice towards Ghana's independence and development," he said. He quoted an Akan saying "Mogya naa nananom hywee guu wogye to ho mayen" which he explained as the blood that the forefathers of the country shared was an exchanged they made for our development needs. Pastor Henaku said lack of sacrifice on the part of leadership had led to under-development especially in most of our African Countries. "Greed, selfishness, extravagance and mismanagement of public funds by leaders, have caused our nations dearly. "There can be no good leadership without an element of sacrifice on the part of such leaders," he added.

Pastor Henaku said just as Christ put the people first, so must leadership put the nation first before anything else. He said if Christ did not allowed the insults, abuses, assaults and other painful ordeal to distract or deter him from achieving His purpose, then leaders must learn to be steadfast and determined. Pastor Henaku said the lessons of sacrifice must also be extended to all and sundry including workers and students since through that we could be sure of seeing a better future for our generation and generations to come.