The founder of the Perez Chapel International, Bishop Charles Agyinasare, has admonished Ghanaians to maintain high moral standards as the country celebrates its 59th anniversary.

Bishop Agyinasare said at age 59, Ghanaians must eschew lies and cheating in their dealings with one another.

“We must avoid lying and deceit,” Bishop Agyinasare said during a sermon to mark Ghana’s Independence Anniversary celebration over the weekend. “We must discourage outright and pathological lies.”

He added: “Some people are pathological liars; they lie and believe in their lies. At 59, we must be honest. People brag and lie and make all kinds of claims – the airport belongs to my father and all kinds of fantastic lies. They haven’t traveled outside Accra before but they’ll tell you they just returned from Paris.”

The leader of the Perez Chapel had an advice for politicians too.

“Politicians must not lie to their constituents by making lying promises which they can’t honour… because in life moral authority is not given, but earned. You must earn it at the work place, home, by portraying an honest and trustworthy personality through your deeds because titles don’t make a person who they really are, it is character that makes them.”

The respected religious leader also impressed upon Ghanaians to make it a point to wear the cloak of honesty always.

“We must be honest as a people... We are expected to exhibit honesty to everyone we meet in life. There are times when people say the issue I’m dealing with is between me and God. No, it is not just a matter of between you and God, it is a duty to relate well with everyone and God.

“Your character is not between you and God, but you and your fellow human beings. We should live a positive perception about our worth in our relationship with people. When nobody is watching, do we have integrity, honesty? We must show honesty in the area of debt payment, there are some who borrow from friends and neighbours and don’t return them. We go for pens and we don’t return them.

“There is so much dishonesty that we don’t pay our debt. We take loans from banks and we don’t pay. Can you be trusted? You go to write an exams and you are not supposed to come into the examination hall with answers written on paper and you put it under your sleeves. That is dishonesty. At 59 as Ghanaians we should move away from the stage where examination papers are leaking and if they leak Mr Lecturer you don’t have to use it. In fact, some are stealing grades. People are entering universities with stolen results,” Agyinasare lamented.