Accra, June 28, GNA - Vice President John Mahama, on Sunday called for effective collaboration between the State and Church to decisively deal with the spate of moral decadence and youth delinquency in the country. He said this was crucial in the elimination of the recent phenomenon of internet fraud or "sakawa", which, he cautioned, was eating deep into the moral fiber of the youth, warning that the "repercussions would be enormous" if urgent actions were not taken.

The Vice President was speaking at the silver jubilee celebration of the Reverend Nantoma Memorial Congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (POG) in Accra on Sunday. He said danger might befall the country if the two actors failed to join hands in curtailing the impact of the youth walloping in depraved acts.

Mr. Mahama said "Moral decadence has been a bane on society's forward march towards development and of late, the issue of internet fraud (sakawa) is eating deep into the moral fiber of our youth and the repercussions are quite enormous".

He said the way out of this was for the two parties to advance society by descending on such inimical practices so as to make the youth appreciate that society will not indulge the sakawa menace as well as other vices that had unfortunately engaged their attention. The Vice President said government would continue to maintain peace, but expected religious institutions "to nurture the spiritual well-being of their followers as this will undoubtedly have a lasting influence on the behavior and attitude of the larger society".

"As a church, you owe it a moral duty to evangelize the youth and to influence them to channel their energies into productive ventures" for them to appreciate that to reap riches through idleness is an alien value of our culture".

The Vice President re-echoed government's determination to build a productive alliance with faith institutions such as the Presbyterian Church of Ghana so as to grapple with the economic, social, spiritual and physical needs of Ghanaians to ensure that they had a dignified life.

Mr Mahama urged the two actors to collaborate and deal with other topical issues such as environmental sanitation. The Clerk of the Ga Presbytery of the PCG, Rev. Esther Adjetey, who delivered the sermon on the theme 'Lord Our Banner', urged the Church to comfort and support the weary in society.

She entreated Christians to honour their vocation to God, place humanity at the centre of all their endeavors and eschew negative practices that retarded the growth of humanity.

Rev Adjetey advised Christians to avoid ineptitude at work places but join hands with their superiors in moving forward the national agenda. The Moderator of the PCG, the Rt. Rev. Dr Yaw Frimpong Manso, in a speech read on his behalf, tasked the congregation to use the anniversary to "comfort the wounded, the marginalized, the afflicted, the sick and hungry" who, he said, needed to be robed into the kingdom of God.

He urged the Church to maintain and protect people who God has entrusted to its care so that they may not be enticed and driven away by any wind of change or false ideas. 28 June 09