The Vice President of the Republic, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has called for increased acceptance of the many divergent religions in the country to safeguard the peace Ghana enjoys.

In particular, Vice President Bawumia is calling for greater tolerance and acceptance between the two largest religions in the country, Christianity and Islam, pointing out that the beliefs of the two religions have more similarities than differences.

“In fact many people don't realise that between Muslims and Christians there's actually more that unites us than divides us,” Vice President Bawumia noted at a special lecture organized to celebrate the 100th birthday of the National Chief Imam, His Eminence Sheikh Dr Osman Nuhu Sharabutu in Accra on Tuesday, April 23, 2019.

“We worship the same God, Allah, the same God. The God of Abraham, the God of Moses, the God of Isaac, the God of David; the same God that we all worship. We all believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. We both believe that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. We revere Mary so much that she's the only female who is mentioned directly by name in the Quran; the only female, and you have a whole chapter in the Qur'an, Suratul Mariam, which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

“Indeed, there are more mentions of Mary in the Holy Quran than in the whole New Testament.”

Vice President Bawumia continued:

“We all believe in the miracles of Jesus Christ. We believe as Muslims he talked when he was in the cradle. We believe the miracles he performed to give sight to the blind and so on. And as Muslims and Christians we all believe that Jesus will come back before the day of judgement, to defeat the false prophet or the anti-Christ. We all share that common belief as Muslims and Christians.

“But what is also more important is that the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) told all of us as Muslims that amongst all the faiths that we have, we as Muslims should be closest to the Christians. That is what he told us, that we as Muslims should be closest to the Christians, because they are good people. So today, if you are a Muslim and you say you don't like Christians it means you don't understand Islam. And if you are a Christian and you say you don't like Muslims then you don't understand Christianity.”

Vice President Bawumia warned against religious extremism arising from a misinterpretation of religions, saying deviants and anti-social elements take advantage of such postures to perpetrate crime.

“There is more that unites us, the two religions, than divides us. But we allow people like the terrorists to hide under the cloak of religion to try to divide us. But we in Ghana, we are lucky. We are lucky we have people like Sheikh Dr Osman Nuhu Sharabutu to continue teaching us the right way.

“Our colleagues from other countries are often astounded by the level of religious tolerance in Ghana. Our answer to them is simple: we have a National Chief Imam who is extremely knowledgeable, but also humble and a champion of inter-faith dialogue and peace. We also tell them we have Christian leaders who are receptive to the National Chief Imam's gesture of respect to the Christian Community.

“As Muslims and Christians, let us not take the freedom and peace we enjoy for granted. They were achieved through the concerted efforts of noble men like Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu and the Christian leaders we have in the country. At our various levels, let us emulate this beautiful example of humility, compassion and tolerance exhibited by the National Chief Imam” the Vice President adviced.

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com 

Minister for Ghana’s Aviation Ministry and Member of Parliament for Navrongo Central, Joseph Kofi Adda, on Easter Monday celebrated his 62^nd birthday with a donation of items to the children’s ward of the War Memorial Hospital in Navrongo.

The items included 3 cartons of malt, 3 boxes of fruit juice, 4 boxes of biscuits and 3 boxes of assorted soaps, washing powder and detergents.

The others items included five plastic chairs, some packets of toilet rolls and an undisclosed amount of money for the procurement of an anti-snake venom and settlement of bills for two patients.

Presenting the items to the ward nurses on behalf of Mr. Adda, Ophelia Aovare, a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) regional committee on research and intelligence, said the gesture was to show love and care to the children on Mr. Adda’s birthday and to also wish them a Happy Easter.

She said it was unfortunate that the children were sick at a time when they should be home with their families and friends to celebrate the resurrection of Christ.

She extended the warm regards of the MP to all the inmates of the ward and assured that Mr. Adda will pay more visits to the ward in the future.

Ophelia Aovare in her speech also thanked the nurses for their selfless dedication to work and urged them to continuously discharge their duties as expected of them, for the betterment of humanity and improvement of healthcare delivery in the area.

For his part, the nurse in-charge of the shift, Adongo Joshua, thanked the donor for the items and assured that, the donation would be used for its intended purpose.

He was particularly grateful for the cash donation, saying “it will help take off the financial burden on some of the parents”.

In a related development, hundreds of children from the Navrongo area gathered at the premises of the Navrongo Post Office on Monday to take part in an Easter Children’s party put together by Joseph Kofi Adda.

The party was one of two activities put together for children to mark his birthday.

The excited children came from different parts of Navrongo to have fun and interact with each other. They were treated to great music and educative activities, good food and given exercise books and other learning materials.

Ghana|Atinkaonline.com|Senyalah Castro

Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Madam Cynthia Morrison, has hinted a meeting with the Chief Justice  over  a story involving a 10-year-old girl who was left bedridden after being  defiled twice.

The story was carried by Atinka FM.

The meeting, according to the minister, will among other things discuss the period within which our courts try rape cases.

Madam Cynthia Morrison made the statement while speaking at the National Dialogue on sexual violence against girls and boys at La-palm Hotel in Accra.

The statement was necessitated after the organizers of the programme, Plan International and Youth Advocate Ghana showed the minister a 5-minute excerpt of Atinka TV’s documentary by  Atinka News  Editor, Regina Asamoah involving a 10-year old class 1 pupil of Anyaa D/A Government School who was allegedly raped by a class mate’s father in 2015.

The case has been dragging in court for the past four years, while the accused has been on bail ever since.

“The video is disheartening and I must say that I am sad. What pleasure will you derive from sleeping with a 10-year old girl. I have this video and some other rape stories on my desk, I don’t know what goes into the judgement of cases like this, but I will meet the chief Justice and I am sure we will make head ways…”, she said.

Background

On 30th July, 2015, Atinka FM first broke story of a 10-year-old girl who was left bedridden after being defiled twice by a man whom she alleged was her schoolmate’s father.

The girl was a class one pupil of Anyaa D/A Government School who stayed with her Aunt at Anyaa.

Interactions with the girl on her sick bed at the Korle-Bu Children’s Ward revealed that the suspect defiled her in a bush on 14th and 17th July, 2015 respectively on her way to school.

The man known to the victim as “Jessica Papa” (Jessica’s Father) is said to be an auto mechanic who also lives in the area.

Pediatricians at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital confirmed in a report that  the victim  was paralysed as a result of  “forced penetration” by the suspect.

According to the victim, that the man started assaulting her when she was at KG 2 but threatened to kill her or hire people to kidnap and kill her if she ever told her parents.

After several efforts by doctors  to get her to walk  again after two separate medical treatments, the family resorted to herbal medication. The 13- year-old  victim  now partially  walks after four years .

Although her family has relocated to a new neighborhood,  the victim says she lives in fear .

The family, however, believes that justice would be served.

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Vivian Adu