By Dennis Peprah
Sunyani, (Bono), July 11, GNA – The Right Reverend Dr Festus Yeboah-Asuamah, the Anglican Bishop of the Sunyani Diocese, has called on the government to find jobs for the youthful population, with urgency.
He regretted that many of young people were now engaged in illegal and harmful practices to survive, urging the government to create job opportunities for them to stay in the country too.
Rt Rev Dr Yeboah-Asuamah when he addressed the opening session of the Third Session and of the Fifth Synod of Diocese held at the St Anselm’s Cathedral in Sunyani on the theme “From maintenance to mission: Navigating change for a vibrant future”.
The Anglican Bishop said he was worried about the growing youth unemployment rate in the country which threatened national security, and inimical to the holistic growth and development of the youth.
Rt Rev Yeboah-Asuamah also condemned the growing activities of illegal mining, noting that though successive governments had done their best, the menace remained pervasive, destroying water bodies, farm land, and the environment and making people ill too.
Describing illegal mining as affront to Christianity and faith, Rt Rev Yeboah-Asuamah said the “earth is the Lord and fullness thereof”, urging stakeholders, the Christian community in general to remain at the front-line in the fight against galamsey.
He said: “Responsible environmental stewardship is rotted in our faith as Christians”, and called on Ghanaians to do the needful, and support the government to tackle the illegal mining head-on and to preserve the environment for unborn generation.
Rt Rev Yeboah-Asuamah also spoke against the rise in corruption which was bane to accelerated national development, saying though the nation had made some gains in corruption fight, more ought to be done in law enforcement and policy implementation.
Highlighting some consequences, the Anglican Bishop noted that the destructive impacts of corruption remained enormous both in short and long terms, and called on the government to do more to bring the menace under control.
Rt Yeboah-Asuamah emphasized that the nation required effective collaboration, decisive and concerted efforts towards tackling corruption, illegal mining and other societal ills.
The Anglican Bishop said as key partners of development, the contribution of the church towards tackling social ills and facilitating accelerated national development could not be over-emphasised.
GNA
Edited by Dennis Peprah/Benjamin Mensah