Kumasi, Jan 1, GNA - A priest has appealed to Ghanaians to shun ethnicity and other divisive tendencies that have the potential to erode socio-economic gains and political stability.

The Rev Otuo Acheampong, Chairperson of the Asante Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana who was speaking at a watch night service at the Ramseyer Presbyterian Church at Adum in Kumasi, said the nation had come a long way in consolidating democracy.

He said in view of this there was the need for the citizenry to be peace-loving and each other's keeper for social cohesion and national unity.

Rev Acheampong appealed to Christians to use the festive occasion to renew their commitment to the principles and tenets of Christendom to help retain the good image of the religion.

Preaching at the Peyer Memorial Presbyterian Church at Bantama in Kumasi, the Reverend Peter Kofi Nyarkoh, District Minister of the Church, said the New Year should be a period "to forget and let past memories that are no longer useful or worth pondering upon pass away and make use of the good memories of promoting good neighbourliness to prevail at all times".

He said the period represented the hour for new beginnings such as the youth abstaining from alcoholism, drug abuse, insolence and other social vices that affected development.

In a sermon at the King's Church at South Suntreso in Kumasi, Pastor Edward Odame, General-Overseer of the church, appealed to Ghanaians to take a cue from the unfortunate political events in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kenya, Rwanda and Zimbabwe and resolve to refrain from violence.

He said the time had come for Africans to take their destiny into their own hands by being committed to activities that could accelerate the continent's bid to reducing hunger, poverty and diseases. Pastor Odame said African leaders should also uphold good leadership by being accountable and transparent to the masses to improve their living conditions.

The Reverend Father John Opoku, Parish Priest of the Saint Paul's Catholic Church at Amakom in Kumasi, thanked God for sustaining the nation through difficult times in the past years and urged the people to continue to pray for God's guidance and protection in the years ahead. He appealed to stakeholders to be proactive in sensitizing the youth to gear their energies towards profitable ventures and stop engaging themselves in negative practices that impeded development.