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Catholic Priest advises mourners: Sympathise with the bereaved, don’t ‘feed on them’
● Reverend Father Joy Ofori-Kumeni expressing appreciation
Are you one of those persons who go to funerals to mourn with the bereaved family or you go there to see how the family will be disgraced because they do not have the means to have an extravagant funeral?
The Vice Rector of the St. Paul’s Catholic Seminary, Sowutuom in the Greater Accra Region, Very Reverend Father John Doe Dormah, has advised all persons in the latter group to desist from their actions.
Delivering his homily at the Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church, Madina, during the Thanksgiving Mass for Reverend Father Joy Ofori-Kumeni’s ordination recently, Very Reverend Dormah, said it was disheartening that funerals had graduated to a level where families were financially burdened.
He noted with concern that instead of people going to console the bereaved, they rather went to “feed on them” which ended up leaving some families who had lost loved ones in debt.
The Vice Rector said such behaviours of some Christians were not good enough and so they should mend their ways.
He again drew the attention of the parishioners to share their food and water with the needy because that was what God wanted.
Very Reverend Father Dormah encouraged Christians to make time to visit the hospitals, prisons and those in difficulty to encourage and also pray with them as such acts were significant and meant a lot to those who were visited.
Speaking on fear, he admonished the church to eschew fear and doubt but always trust in God in whatever situation they found themselves because God was always with His children and ready to help them.
He advised Rev. Father Ofori-Kumeni not to compromise his integrity but serve the Lord in all humility.
Reverend Father Ofori-Kumeni on his part recalled his journey as a Presbyterian and later to a Catholic Priest.
He said God sometimes did not require understanding but the trust in Him and encouraged all to do so while expressing his appreciation to his family, the church and asked for their prayers for his journey ahead.
By Dzifa Tetteh Tay
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Richard Appiah, the footballer who killed two children and stored part of their bodies in a fridge at Abesim in the Bono Region in 2021 has been handed a lifetime sentence.
This was after a five member panel of judges at the Accra High Court returned a verdict of guilty against the convict.
Appiah, 32, also a draughtsman would spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murder.
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BY MALIK SULLEMANA
