The Metropolitan Archbishop of the Catholic Church in Kumasi, Most Reverend Justice Gabriel Yaw Anokye, has urged Ghanaians abroad to come home and support the development of the nation with their expertise.

He explained that although relying on their professional skills could fetch them huge incomes abroad, it was also important for them to consider using their expertise to support national development.

Most Rev. Anokye lamented how many professionals always wanted to work outside the country, leaving their own country under-developed, after being assisted to pursue higher education with funding from tax payers in the country.

Annual prisons visits

Most Rev. Anokye made the call when he sang mass at the Kumasi Central Prison as part of his annual visit to prisons in the region to share the word of God with the inmates.

For many years, the Kumasi Archdiocese of the Catholic Church has been visiting the Kumasi Central Prison. It recently extended the gesture to other prisons in the region such as the Manhyia, Amanfrom, Obuasi and Dompoase prisons.

On such occasions, the church shares the word of God with the inmates and the prison officers and also donates assorted items to the inmates. This year, clothing and sandals, toiletries, bread, biscuits, bags of rice, maize, gari and cooked food were donated.

The Archbishop explained that although working outside one’s country was not a crime, those who had benefitted from the nation’s support must see it as expedient to return home and support the various development exercises.

Government

Most Rev. Anokye appealed to the incoming government to make the resourcing of all state agencies and departments a priority for them to perform their functions effectively.

The Archbishop asked the inmates not to see their incarceration as the end of the road, but to rather use the period to reflect on their past lives and plan towards the future so that they would not revisit events that took them to prison.

Most Rev. Anokye said he was not happy with the stigmatisation of inmates, which leads to some of them going back to prison after serving their jail terms because their families and society refuse to assist them to fit in.

Prisons command

The Ashanti Regional Commander of the Prisons Service, Mr Lord Nii Boye Tagoe, lauded the Catholic Church for its continuous support for prisons in the Ashanti Region over the years.

He appealed to other well-meaning Ghanaians to come to the aid of the prisons to solve their liquid waste challenge which they found extremely difficult to deal with.

Commendation

The regional commander used the occasion to commend Mr Martin Nyame, a Catholic Catechist who for the past 41 years volunteered to assist in training and seeking resources from the public to support the welfare of prison inmates in the region.

Through the instrumentality of Mr Nyame, many inmates have accepted Jesus Christ.

Source: graphic.com