The Vice Presidential candidate of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, says the next NPP government will consider incentives for faith-based organisations who meet a set threshold in their contribution to national development.
He said faith-based organisations had remained critical partners in national development and needed to be given the motivation to do more.
Addressing congregants of the Kristo Asafo Mission at their annual church conference at Gomoa Mpota in the Central Region yesterday, Dr Opoku Prempeh said the proposed incentive was justified because faith-based organisations had contributed more to the socio-economic architecture than some of the country’s development partners.
“Under Dr Bawumia’s vision, faith-based organisations who meet a certain threshold in terms of their contribution to national development will be given additional incentives to enhance their work as development partners.
“In this enterprise of (national development), the church has a huge responsibility as a major social stakeholder, to be a force to reckon with. We of the New Patriotic Party, in recognition of this, will continue to engage with the church on several fronts, confident that in you we shall find worthy allies,” he said.
A Dr Mahamudu Bawumia-led NPP government, Mr Opoku Prempeh, affectionately called Napo, said would put the youth at the centre of its agenda.
According to him, the party had the boldest of solutions to the myriads of challenges that affected the country.
Critical to that vision, he said, would be the continuous development of the youth to face the future that awaits them.
He said in the 21st century where the most defining global conversations had been around practical skills training for young people as a way to enhance social and economic development, Ghana boasts the required personnel to fit into the global conversation.
The NPP, Napo posited, had demonstrable track record to deliver on that mandate
“Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the NPP’s flagbearer for the 2024 elections, remains steadfastly committed to bold solutions for our country’s future. Youth training and skills development remain a cardinal point in his vision,” he stated.
This commitment, he itemised was evident in the mainstreaming of TVET which has seen the investment of some US$700 million into upgrading, retooling and refurbishing TVET facilities at both pre-tertiary and tertiary levels.
He said Ghana was blessed with abundance of peaceful cooperation and dialogue between various faiths, particularly between Christianity and Islam.
“This is particularly telling in a world where enmity between adherents of different faiths has in several instances spilled into ugly violence and destabilisation of entire communities,” he observed.
Extolling the virtues of tolerance of Dr Bawumia and the NPP, Dr Opoku Prempeh said tolerance must be the watchword for all as the country heads for the crucial December 7 polls.
“I believe that we must as a country keep working hard to further grow this dialogue to help consolidate the peace that we continue to enjoy. We must jealously guard against those who seek to divide us along the front of religion,” he preached.
FROM JULIUS YAO PETETSI, GOMOA MPOTA