Accra, Nov. 10, GNA - Non-governmental Organisations have been advised to stick to their core businesses instead of meddling in chieftaincy and religious issues that had led to conflicts in some areas.

Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, a presidential hopeful of the Convention People's Party (CPP), who gave the advice asked Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to ensure that they lived up to the task for which they were set up.

He said at the moment, there were many not-for-profit organisations springing up across the country, whose activities truly did not profit anyone.

"They raise funds; they spend what they get in ways only known to themselves. They implement projects sometimes and these last a very short time," Dr Nduom, Member of Parliament for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem, said at the official opening of the United Way International African Regional Meeting in Accra. United Way International is a not-for-profit organisation whose purpose is to strengthen communities and improve lives around the world by mobilizing local people and companies to give time and money to help local communities meet some of their needs.

The four-day meeting, which started on Tuesday, has attracted about 35 participants from Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa and America.

Dr Nduom, a former Minister of Public Sector Reform, said many of the so-called NGOs that claimed to be working for the people had left a number of uncompleted and abandoned projects, and poorly sited ones all dotted across the country.

"The worst part of it is that some use these organisations in ways that worsen ethnic, religious and political differences in the country," he said.

Dr Nduom said there were many situations where these NGOs after one or two successful rounds of raising funds from local and international sources paid themselves well, and moved on to ventures more profitable to the management.

He urged United Way International to consider all the difficulties that existed in the field and offer selfless services to the local people as they firmed their activities in Ghana. Dr Nduom said his passion was for the creation of a just and caring society for all Ghanaians.

"A just society is one that provides an opportunity for every boy and girl and every man and woman to realise his or her human potential. "A just society by its actions gives hope to all that tomorrow will be better than today...and a just society never stops caring and continuously searches for a better way to lift up its citizens to experience a better life," he said.

Dr Nduom said although God had made Ghana to achieve good progress in recent years in repairing its economic fundamentals, it was still ranked in the category of poor nations.

He said there was therefore the need for the state and NGOs to find sustainable ways to support those who needed a helping hand to cope with the difficulties many of the people faced in life. "I believe that the state matters and can do a lot if its institutions are strengthened and well controlled to be able to provide public goods and services for everyone who needed them. "What is public, social and will benefit the greater majority of our people such as education, water, health care, electricity, social infrastructure such as roads and bridges must be treated with a sense of urgency," he said.

King Nii Tackie Tawiah III, Ga Mantse, said it was unfortunate that progress and development eroded the African's culture of sharing and caring for the less fortunate in society. This situation, he noted, had led to the migration of rural folks to the city in search of a better quality of life, only to be disappointed, leading to the creation of slums and "shameful places of abode". He said it was the responsibility of the chiefs to intervene when the quality of life for the people became too deplorable. He appealed to United Way International to continue to act as the hope for the hopeless in society. Mrs. Janet L. Butler, President, United Way Ghana, in a welcoming address said the organisation started operating in Ghana in 2003 as a volunteer group. "Our Vision is to create a society where the culture of volunteerism responds to needy communities in Ghana," she said. 10 Nov. 07