Former Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Joseph Yamin
Joseph Yamin, a deputy minister of Youth and Sports under the erstwhile Mahama administration has observed, that the country is treading on a dangerous path with the stand-off between some Christian leaders and Muslims over the fasting issue at Wesley Girls Senior High Schools.
Yamin is concerned that the two religious sides appear to have adopted extreme stances on the issue with neither side willing come to the table to amicably settle the issue.
Speaking in Okay FM interview, Yamin said that it could be the breeding ground for terrorist activities in the country.
He charged President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia to show leadership and address the issue. He further singled out Bawumia for criticism, chiding that he should not only be concerned with economic related matters.
“Has Bawumia not heard about the impasse between some Christians leaders and the Muslim community. Is he allowed to speak only economic issues. The biggest national security threat we have as a country is that issue. Speak to any of our top security experts and they will tell the cause of terrorism is clash of culture.
“When you have a president and vice president whose religions are at war in the country and none of them sees the need to get into the resolution of this issue then we have a problem.
“The Christian caucus in Parliament have condemned the statement from the Christian Council and Ghana Catholic Bishop Conference and that’s we are headed. People will gang up to defend their religion or culture and by doing so they will go ahead to inflict harm on non-combatants. When that happens there is the tendency for others to defend themselves and that could degenerate into chaos,” he said.
Joseph Yamin, though a Christian, criticized the school and the Methodist church for preventing the students from fasting.
“As at now, the Muslim community are standing up against a directive by a school. I’m a Christian but what negative effect will it have on the school if the students are allowed to practice their faith.
“The topmost positions in the country are occupied by Muslims and Christians. Number one is a Christian and number two is a Muslim. Unfortunately, it could be that the security apparatus of this country does not understand the dangers this poses to our security and I advise the president to issue a statement on this issue or the vice president to make a statement on this issue”.
Meanwhile, a member of the Muslim caucus in Parliament, Muntaka Mubarak has said that the house will resist attempts by the Christian leaders to destabilize the country.
“We won’t allow any disintegration, whether coming from the Christian, Muslim or Buddhist communities. We are one unit within a unitary state. We all subscribe to live by the Constitution of Ghana so we must respect it. Let us try to dialogue and cool the temperature in our country,” he added.