Cape Coast, June 5, GNA - The Cape Coast Diocese of the Methodist Church, has expressed concern about the proliferation of pornographic materials and advertisement of unapproved drugs in the Ghanaian media. It urged the media to work within the laws of the land.

The Church noted that pornographic material published in the media, was a disgrace and "an assault on the people", particularly women, and called on the National Media Commission (NMC) to "clean the mud in the media" instead of restricting itself to arbitration of cases. The Church expressed these concerns in a communiqu=E9 issued at its 44th annual Synod held at Mankessim and highlighted at a press conference in Cape Coast on Monday, by the Right Reverend Isaac Quansah, Bishop of the Diocese.

It noted that the Commission owed it a duty to ensure that all pornographic materials were taken off the newsstands and stressed that "it would battle with newsvendors, publishers and the Commission to ensure some sanity" in the media front.

It called on other churches and religious organizations to join in the fight against pornography in the media and on the Internet. The Church said it also opposed the legalisation of prostitution in the country, since it degraded womanhood and was likely to promote promiscuity among the youth.

The communiqu=E9 also called on the government to subsidise the price of treated mosquito nets, as well as embark on a vigorous public education on the benefits of its use.

The Church further called for the re-introduction of teaching of hygiene in school to enable pupils to imbibe the value of washing their hands with soap.

Touching on education, it urged the government to take serious steps to stamp out examination leakages, and asked that, culprits should be sanctioned to serve as a deterrent.

The communiqu=E9 also asked that the routine supervision of teachers should be revisited, to effectively monitor their activities and urged the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to encourage the use of Ghanaian languages in schools as a "functional step" in teaching, to enable the children to understand subjects that are taught, calling for the reopening of the Ghana Institute of Languages.

The communiqu=E9 also called on municipal and district assemblies to enforce their byelaws on sanitation and to provide litterbins at vantage points.

It also called on them to take control of the management of the various public toilets and to make their use free for minors and the aged.

On other social issues, it called on the assemblies to set aside a portion of their common fund to cater for the aged, such as establishing recreational centres for them and providing them with meals, at least once in a day.

On bribery and corruption, it called on the government to pay workers realistic wages and salaries and endeavour to punish all corrupt government and public officials and empower anti-corruption institutions to enable them to curb corruption.