Article 35 (1) of the Constitution states: “Ghana shall be a democratic state dedicated to the realization of freedom and justice; and accordingly, sovereignty resides in the people of Ghana from whom Government derives all its powers and authority through this Constitution.”
Article 35 6(d) states: “…the State shall take appropriate measures to (d) make democracy a reality by decentralizing the administrative and financial machinery of government to the regions and districts and by affording all possible opportunities to the people to participate in decision-making at every level in national life and in government.”
So, on one hand Government “derives all its powers and authority” from the people, based on the constitution, and on the other, Government is required to “provide all possible opportunities to the people to participate in decision-making in national life.”
The Ghana Statistical Service 2010 Population and Housing Census, Summary Report of Final Results (GSS, May 2012) indicates that Christianity is the largest religion in Ghana with 71.2% of Ghana’s population being members of Christian denominations.
Clearly therefore, the powers and authority derived by various governments in Ghana are mainly derived from Christians, who collectively constitute a key stakeholder group, and put more succinctly, who are clearly the single largest and important stakeholder constituency in the country. Furthermore, governments past, present and future have a constitutional responsibility to provide well defined and structured platforms, spaces and channels for Christians to participate in influencing decisions that affect national life and government and to take on board their recommendations.
To make this happen, the Christian community itself has a responsibility to collaborate more effectively across denominations, para-church groups, various sectors, as well as gates or spheres of influence in order to:
(i) Demand the promotion, respect and fulfilment of this right,
(ii) Establish consensus & a common position on key national issues/indicators and
(iii) Use the common position to give input into shaping national laws, policies and government decisions, etc.
It is in this context, that Advocates for Christ Ghana (A4CG) initiated the annual National Christian Forum (NCF) in 2020 to take a close look at key sectors/gates of national life, identify and establish key performance or growth indicators in these areas and to review these overtime. This initiative is to help Christians distil and propose actions that we ought to pursue as Christians to promote national development and to agree on a collective position that informs our individual and corporate engagements subsequently as Christian leaders, organizations, youth, pastors, professionals etc. in the country to hold duty bearers accountable. Ultimately these annual fora will promote sound and collectively-owned public policies.
After a review of the 2020 maiden edition, A4CG took a decision to expand the sectors/gates involved from nine (9) to twelve (12), whose activities/ indicators will be reviewed and analyzed to establish our common position in 2021 and beyond namely:
1. Family
2. Governance, Law & Politics
3. Media & Communication
4. Arts & Entertainment
5. Economy, Finance & Business Sustainability
6. Education & Learning
7. Church/ Religion & Ministry
8. Youth & Sports
9. Science, Technology & Innovation
10. Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change
11. Health
12. Agriculture and Agribusiness Sustainability
The forum outputs ie. communique and report will provide an important basis to engage and influence Government and other Stakeholder actions over the next twelve (12) months, as did the 2020 outputs.
Registration link:
https://forms.gle/jR9ZpyjfKpqebFaF6
Advocates for Christ Ghana looks forward to having Christians register and take active part in these deliberations slated for the 27th and 28th of August 2021. Be an active and responsible Christian citizen and join us!
God bless you and God bless our homeland Ghana.
