Most Rev. Philip Naameh
The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) has waded into the infamous Kasoa juvenile murder, describing it as a national security threat which requires an immediate intervention.
In a statement on the subject, the Most Rev. Dr. Philip Naameh, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Tamale, who is also the President of the GCBC, did not mince words as he descended heavily on ‘the growing quest for quick wealth in the country.’
The sad and gruesome incident, which took place at a suburb in Kasoa in the Central Region, the GCBC observed, “exposes us as a people and as a nation, and calls for the need for an urgent intervention to avert further occurrences in the future.”
On the adoration of wealth in the Ghanaian society, which drove the murder suspects into doing what they did, the GCBC said “we live in a country where wealth is celebrated and elevated above everything, where the rich are worshipped without questioning the source of their wealth, where good leadership qualities are equated to donations, where individuals believe they have to make money by hook or by crook, where the end justifies the means.”
The horrid action of these teenagers should serve as a wake-up call for us to find out what has gone wrong with us as individuals, as a people, as a nation, and why we are where we are today, the GCBC stressed.
Perhaps, the Bishops continued, Ghanaians have lost their moral compass as individuals, a people and a nation.
Even as we seek answers to the question “what has gone wrong with us?”, they were quick to call on all major stakeholders, especially the regulators of our media space, to clamp down on activities of fraudulent persons who through their audio-visual contents continue to propagate evils and their ‘get-rich-quick’ activities on our television stations and social media platforms.
The Bishops expressed regret that the teenagers had earlier thought about kidnapping their victim for a ransom and then present the victim to a spiritualist for rituals; thoughts derived from watching some of the audio-visual content on television with the promise to make people wealthy within a short period of time.
“It is time for us to begin to chart a new path for ourselves as individuals, as a people and as a nation, if we intend to build a country with people who appreciate the need for hard work, honesty, values, integrity and the desire for genuine acquisition of wealth as opposed to the current situation of thirsting for quick wealth by hook or by crook,” the Bishops sermonized, and commended the soul of the young Ishmael Mensah Abdallah to the mercy of God.
They also prayed for consolation for the parents and the entire family, and for divine guidance on these and many other misguided teenagers in our modern world.
By A.R. Gomda