Faith based organisations have partnered with the Ghana Police Service (GPS) to enforce laws regarding the conduct of religious bodies in the country.
The partnership is also meant to intensify education on existing laws regulating faith-based organizations.
The collaboration was the outcome of an engagement between the faith based organisations and the Police Administration on Monday, led by Dr George Akuffo Dampare, Inspector-General of Police (IGP).
Present at the meeting were members of the Police Management Board, ministers from the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, Christian Council of Ghana, Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, National Association of Christian and Charismatic Churches, Council of Independent Churches.
Also present was Sheik Aremeyaw Shaibu, spokesperson of the National Chief Imam, representing the Islamic community.
Briefing the press, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Kwesi Ofori, Acting Director-General, Public Affairs, GPS said the partnership would reduce the friction between religion and the law.
He said it would also forge a sense of unity between the Police and religious bodies so that they operated without hindrance.
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ACP Ofori said the Public Affairs Directorate of the GPS would team up with the various Councils in the Christian Community to embark on a public education for citizens.
“We have agreed to work closely with these faith based organisations to avoid infractions with the law. We will also look at how churches conduct their operations and activities taking into account what the law says,” he said.
He said they would extend the education to religious bodies that were not represented at the engagement for them to avoid conflicts with the law.
ACP Ofori assured Churches that the move was not meant for the Police to embark on a witch-hunting spree against religious bodies.
He said instead, it was to deepen an already existing relationship between the Police and religious organisations.
The Most Rev. Dr Paul Kwabena Boafo, Presiding Bishop, Methodist Conference, noted that as part of the engagement, resource persons explained to them how religion could be used to foster peaceful coexistence.
He said per the laws of Ghana, the church could fall foul in some instances, especially in the area of excessive noise making and could be sued.
“These and many more are already existing laws that only need to be enforced. All the heads of various Christian and Muslim groups gathered here have agreed that the Police must be supported by the faith based organisations to do their work,” he said.
The Presiding Bishop advised Ministers of the Gospel to be guided by reasoning and wisdom in all their actions.
