Mr. Edward Kareweh, the General Secretary of the General Agriculture Workers Union (GAWU), has asked
Ghanaians to strive towards strengthening the economy rather than praying for God's intervention.
Mr. Kareweh told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that, to revive the economy, there was a need to
revamp institutions and ensure that they were efficient, effective, and strategic towards economic growth and
development.
“Things that are for spirits are there; we overburden God with things that are not right; that’s why we are here; many
things are not of spiritual motive; you don’t pray for people to change; you teach me how to change,” he stated.
He further said that issues like illegal mining, corruption, and a poor economy must be dealt with at the human level
rather than hiding behind religiosity, adding that prayer was not enough to deal with galamsey issues in the country.
He said religion played a critical role in creating values in the day-to-day lives of people, creating an ethical
framework, fostering a sense of community, and fostering morality, which must not be taken for granted.
The GAWU General Secretary added that it must also not be a reason for entertaining people’s bad attitude towards
developing the country.
If the Daily Searchlight had a ‘golden award’, we would have looked for Mr. Edward Kareweh to award him this
singular honour. Indeed, it seems that in recent times, Ghanaians have become extremely religious, so much so, that
Ghana may have at least a million people or more, men and women, claiming to be either pastors, imams, or fetish
priests.
The times are such that Ghanaians are looking for miracles, instead of seeking the fruits of labour. We look for
miracles even where the fruits of reason should hold high.
Even though Ghanaians are extremely religious, this so-called religiosity has not translated into piety. Ghana still
remains one of the nations with the highest levels of corruption and incompetence, and it is getting worse.
We believe that, like Mr. Edward Kareweh says, we should find ways of rewarding competence instead of
religiosity. We should find ways of rewarding hard work instead of religiosity. We should find ways to reward
honesty, instead of religiosity.
These are the only attributes which, we believe, would begin to set the nation back on the path of recovery.
We use this page to express our gratitude to Mr. Edward Kareweh for this message.
(Editorial of the Daily Searchlight of 22 nd July, 2024).
