The Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has commended the Methodist Church, Ghana, not only for positively impacting the spiritual lives of its members in particular and Ghanaians as a whole but also for contributing to the socio-economic and educational development of the country. Receiving a quantum of relief items and a cheque donation of Fifty Thousand (50,000) Ghana Cedis from the Methodist Church, Ghana, at Battor in the North Tongu district of the Volta Region on behalf of the Inter-Ministerial Committee, Dr. Opoku Prempeh called on other religious bodies to emulate the kind gesture.
Methodist Church, Ghana, has become the latest religious body to support the flood victims of the North Tongu district following the spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams.
The high-powered delegation to Battor and Mepe was drawn from the Headquarters of the Church, the Ho, Tema, and Takoradi Dioceses, as well as the Methodist Societies from the disaster-affected communities and districts. They comprised Lay President Kwesi Atta Antwi, Lay Chairman Lawrence Anyomi, and Rt. Rev. Matthew Zikpi. Also accompanying the delegation was the Ho Diocesan Media Co-ordinator, Very Rev. Ernest Kobla Agbanyo.
The Minister for Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, and the District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, Divine Osborne Fenu, are both methodists who met the delegation on arrival.
The clergy took time off to visit the Holy Christ Methodist and E.P. Basic Schools as well as the St. Kizito Senior High School camps, where close to one thousand (1000) victims, including some of the church members, are seeking refuge. The delegation also toured some of the affected areas and saw evidence of the recession of the flood waters.
The items presented by the Church included one hundred (100) mattresses and pillows, one hundred (100) bags of rice, one thousand (1000) bags of sachet water, truckloads of used clothing, thirty (30) bags each of maize and beans, twenty (20) bags of gari as well as fifteen (15) boxes of Yazz sanitary pads. The rest were ten (10) gallons of 25-litre liquid soap, one hundred (100) packs of jumbo brand toiletries, assorted soft drinks for children, as well as a whooping cheque donation of Fifty Thousand Ghana Cedis (Ghc50,000.00).
Receiving the items, the Energy Minister noted, “The developmental role of the Methodist Church in the country cannot be over-emphasized”.
According to him, the Church has been very instrumental over the years, not only in agriculture, the health sector, and the educational space but also in the other sectors of the economy.
Dr. Opoku Prempeh said the latest donation to support the flood victims was a further demonstration of the readiness of the Methodist Church to address the needs of Ghanaians in times of help.
He called on other religious bodies to follow suit, adding that the Methodist Church has shown the way through such a singular gesture.
The Administrative Bishop of the Church, Rt. Rev. Michael Bossman said the Church demonstrates God’s love to God’s people wherever they are affected. According to him, the Church has been following the media report on the flood situation and deemed it fit to contribute their widow’s mite to alleviating the plight of the victims.
Bishop Bossman described the disaster as traumatic and urged the victims not to lose hope, assuring them that the Church would continue to give them succour and comfort.
He pledged the church’s commitment to continue to support the spiritual and physical growth of its members and the generality of the Ghanaian population.
The DCE for the area, Hon. Divine Osborn Fenu, said the donation would go a long way to support efforts at making life more bearable for the flood victims, who number almost thirteen thousand (13,000) in the district. He disclosed that the disaster has affected sixty-nine (69) communities whose residents presently live in all the fifteen (15) haven camps across the length and breadth of the district.
