General News of Monday, 16 October 2017
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
2017-10-16
President Akufo-Addo
The second deputy Chief of Staff, John Abu Jinapor has praised the Bishop of the Damongo Diocese, Most Reverend Peter Paul Angkyier for his commitment and dedication to the development of Damongo and its inhabitants.
Delivering a goodwill message on behalf of the president during the 25th Priestly Jubilee of Most Rev.Peter Paul Yekezuame Anghyiere, Mr Jinapor revealed how the hardworking priest nearly knelt down before him to make a passionate call on the president to improve the living conditions of the people in that of the country.
“….I have not known bishop for soo long. But I have had a few encounters with him. The first one struck me very strongly. I visited Damongo and said I will pass through his residence to pay homage to him. And a visit that I envisaged to last for five minutes lasted for two hours…Bishop started with a certain village somewhere where Catholics could not worship freely and went to education and from education, he went to health and from health, he went to women empowerment. And I kept seated there. I was running late but he kept going on and on and on. And he almost went down his knees and said honourable, tell the president, ‘do something for the poor,’ do something for the people. And I could see genuineness and honesty in his eyes…This is the man we celebrate”.
He congratulated the bishop on behalf of the president and donated Ghc10,000 from the presidency to support the educational fund set up by the bishop. The Metropolitan Archbishop of Tamale Diocese and the president of Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Most Rev.Philip Naameh used the occasion to thank the Deputy Chief of Staff for his message from the president and the gift. He encouraged the adoption of the Christian values since they were most important in the pursuit of national development. He said this whilst thanking the 2nd deputy chief of staff for affirming his faith in the Catholic Church.
He said,”In particular I want to thank you for affirming who you are, a Catholic….And promote seeking every opportunity to promote Catholic values. When it comes to development which we are all looking for, the values of the church are one of the most important pontifically to our development. And if we all patronise the Christian values given to us of care for the vulnerable, attending to the poor and the needy and sacrificing for the neighbour, I think our country will grow a lot faster in development than it is”.
He reminded the president through his emissary of his promise to repair the biggest burnt down dormitory of St.Charles Minor Seminary Senior High School. According to him, the burning down of the dormitory compelled the school to cut down the admission figures received from 250 to 150 students. Parents of rejected students who were aggrieved turned to the media prompting the government to invite the headmaster for questioning. The headmaster met the minister of education and presented pictures of the burnt down dormitory as evidence and reason for the decision of the school. He understood and promised a contract was going to be awarded for the burnt down dormitory to be repaired.
The archbishop charged the 2nd deputy Chief of Staff to follow-up the promise of government as an alumnus of the school.
He also encouraged more Catholics to enter politics so that they can use the values learnt from the church to correct things for the better.
The MP of Damongo constituency, Hon.Adam Mutawakilu on his part praised the church for giving him a wife and his first Salary. “Immediately I finished o’ level, six days after, I was engaged at the West Gonja District Hospital which is a Catholic hospital. So the first Salary I had in life is from the West Gonja Hospital…And therefore, I take the Catholic Church and the mission like my breastmilk because I got my first salary from there. The second thing I benefited from here is my wife. She is a Catholic and she is still a Catholic and I’m a Moslem”.Said the legislator.
He said Most Rev. Peter Paul played an important role behind the scenes in realizing the construction of the Damongo-Fulfulso road.
He admitted he has received and continue to receive spiritual blessing from the church and the bishop in person. And has worked closely with the church in his days as DCE and subsequently as MP to chalk a lot of success in the district. He pledged to continue to support the church.
