The Christian Council of Ghana congratulates His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama on his election as the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at the just ended 44th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast.

The Council is of the view that his nomination is another testament to the fact that Ghanaians have the capabilities of playing significant roles in international development and we urge everyone to support him to succeed in this new role.

As the Chairman of ECOWAS, the Council expects him to lead the sub-region in dealing with the varied political and developmental challenges facing member states and facilitate efforts at making the sub-region a very strong and viable bloc on the continent.

Regional Integration

President Mahama will have a daunting task of facilitating the total integration of the sub-region, especially in the area of trade. Currently, the trade within the sub-region is very minimal and President Mahama would need to lead the development of strategies that will seek to deal with the challenges such as ineffective border administration, inadequate infrastructure and a host of others that are impeding regional integration.

Peace & Security

President Maham in his acceptance speech after his election mentioned that facilitating peace and security in the sub-region is one of his thematic areas. We commend the President for making this one of his priority areas and urge him broadly engage in making this a reality. As a Council, we are of the belief that, religious groups have a key role to play in the maintenance of peace and security in the sub-region and we would want to see the President engage the various regional religious groups in facilitating peace and security as their role in this process cannot be underestimated.

Religious Harmonization

The Council also urges the President to work at facilitating religious harmonization in the sub-region. Most of the member states are currently having religious conflict and this is one of the key issues affecting peace and security in the sub-region. It is of the view of the Council that, in the efforts of President Mahama to work at ensuring peace and security in the sub-region, he must do so by making religious harmonization a priority.

Poverty Reduction

The sub-region is also confronted with poverty which President Mahama must also seek to address as the Chairman. Poverty is linked with the current challenges of high rate of illiteracy, unemployment, housing deficit, inadequate infrastructure, poor health delivery and facilities and political instability. It will therefore require that, he addresses all these cardinal poverty related challenges in his three thematic areas.

Conclusion

It is our hope and prayer that every Ghanaian will render his/her support to the President in discharging his responsibilities as the Chairman of ECOWAS. We urge him to consult broadly as the Chairman of ECOWAS and engage the needed experts in the discharge of his duties.

The Council assures the President of its preparedness to support, in whichever way possible to enable him succeed as the Chair. We will continue to pray for him and urge him to continue to trust in God for guidance, wisdom and direction.

Finally, we admonish him with Isaiah 43:2 which reads: “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you” NLT

Signed:

Rev. Dr. Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong

General Secretary