The President of the Ghana Pentecostal & Charismatic Council, Bishop S.N. Mensah, has called on religious leaders to get involved in politics, since, according to him, it impinges on every aspect of human life.

“As religious leaders, we should understand that politics determines where you can be born, politics determines the school you’ll attend, politics determines where you can marry, politics determines the kind of job you’ll have, politics determine the kind of hospital you can have good access to health, politics determines life after 60 when you are on pension, politics even determines where you can be buried.

“In other words, from birth to death, it’s all about politics and if we can’t get involved, then it is disaster for our national development”, Bishop Mensah said when former President John Mahama and executives of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) met the Ghana Pentecostal & Charismatic Council ahead of the development of the party’s 2020 manifesto and campaign for the general elections.

“Everything about our lives from birth to death is politics, not partisan politics but politics because it involves policy and, therefore, we should be much more involved in our national development and I trust that we’ll commit ourselves to that process,” he stressed.

Bishop Mensah further reiterated calls on the state to strengthen institutions to enhance the country’s democracy.

Using the police service as an example, the Presiding Bishop of Full Gospel Church International, said: “When you’re in government, the police will serve the interest of the government and the opposition will cry foul. When the tables turn, it’s the same situation. We’ve witnessed this for the past 20-something years of our democratic rule.”

“Why can’t we, since we’ve all tasted power in and out of government, deal with this canker because it is said: ‘If the root of the tree is bad, the fruit will be bad’, and, so, why can’t we start addressing and to strengthen our institutions to ensure that the police can work without fear or favour?” he quizzed.

The Bishop continued: “Some of the other institutions can be well strengthened. What is it that we are afraid of that for the sake of our democracy, to enhance good governance, we can’t strengthen our institutions and I think this is something we will want you [referring to Mahama and the NDC executives] to start thinking about because it is a major concern to the citizenry”.