According to the Archbishop, although it is good to fight corruption, governance must not be used as an excuse to settle personal scores.
Founder and leader of the Action Chapel International (ACI), Archbishop Nicholas Duncan Williams, has urged President Akufo-Addo not to allow bitter appointees to use his government as an excuse to get back at private businesspeople who created wealth during the erstwhile John Mahama administration.
According to him, although it is good to fight corruption, governance must not be used as an excuse to settle personal scores.
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The preacher said he has keenly observed in the last forty years how successive governments in Ghana try to distabilise businesspeople who are thought to have prospered during the previous administration.
This, he described as a “vicious cycle” which only leads to the destruction of private businesses, and in turn weakens the economy.
The Archbishop, therefore, called on President Akufo-Addo not to allow disgruntled persons in his government to use his administration to pursue such a vicious dream.
“It’s time to cry for mercy, it’s time to pray for mercy because too much is at stake. And please don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying we shouldn’t check corruption, but if we come to office and to power – I’ve been preaching for 40 years in this country and I’ve seen governments come and go, from CPP, my father’s government, and NDC and NPP, they are here, I’ve seen them over the 40 years – and this thing where we come into office with vindictiveness and bitterness because of the way we’ve been mishandled and mistreated.
“And and we target people to go after them, settle scores, I pray that during the reign of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, because of the fight and the betrayals and the suffering and the pain he went through to become president, he will not allow his presidency to be used by people who have problems with others and their opponents to settle scores, but that during his watch and his reign, that vicious cycle would be broken in the name of Jesus; that every Ghanaian, irrespective of your political party, if you’re doing the right thing, you’ll prosper,” he stated during his sermon on Sunday, 22 April.
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He added: “We’re not creating wealth as a people. We destroy wealth every four years and every eight years. And it’s not just Ghana, you watch Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, La Cote d’Ivoire, similar incidents there because I’ve churches there, I’ve networks all over these places and I deal with businessmen and women and politicians in all these places.
“Anytime there is a new regime, the new regime comes and will destroy anyone that was connected to the old regime and benefitted from the old regime, they’ll destroy all their wealth, forgetting that you’ll be in office for only four years or maximum eight years. And then another regime comes and will destroy anyone that benefitted from the old regime, so, every four to eight years, we kill and destroy those who have created wealth.”
The Archbishop further highlighted that the private sector is very key when it comes to national development, whiles warning that if the vicious cycle is not ended anytime soon, then an African version of the Arab Spring was imminent.
“The Arab uprising is something that is in the pipeline and it’s coming to West Africa. Between the next five and 10 years, it is coming to West Africa, write it down. I’m talking as a student of history, prophecy and paradigms.
“We have a very serious situation here and we have to look at it long-term. The private sector is not creating wealth because for whatever reason, we are destroying the private sector through this vicious cycle. If you go to the bank to take a loan, you’ll pay 30 per cent interest, so, it’s difficult to go take a loan to create wealth because of the interest, you can’t pay anything. For whatever reason, the private sector in other countries are helping to develop the country.”