News
GSPD commends Catholic Church for sign language at mass
The church has sign language interpretors
The Catholic Church has taken steps of including the Deaf in its parish ministry and various ordinary and sacramental celebrations by employing the use of Sign Language.
This is aimed at bridging the gap between the hearing and the hearing impaired people to facilitate the expansion of the word of God.
The Founder and First Chaplain of the St. Martin Deaf Ministry (SMDM), Reverend Father Yao Kouamé René Dan of the Society of African Missions (SMA) disclosed this to The Spectator on Monday.
Currently, the Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Madina in the Greater Accra Region is one of the few churches that has Sign Language Interpreters who facilitate communication with the Deaf at church functions.
He explained that the vision of the Ministry was to build a foundation for an inclusive community that respects and recognises humanity rather than socio-economic and physical status of individuals.
Reverend Father Renè said that the initial response from the Deaf community had been positive because they saw the development as a channel to learn and express themselves.
He said as far as its mission was concerned, “members of St. Martin Deaf Ministry commit themselves to reach out and facilitate the integration process through evangelisation, education, and empowerment “.
He said if Christ came for all people, then there should not be a barrier when it came to access to the word of God.
The Chaplain of the St. Martin Deaf Ministry said it was heartwarming to see many Deaf people come to church with energy knowing that they were thought of like all others.
He admitted that, the use of Sign Language in communication had encouraged Deaf people to get actively involved in the activities of the church.
“Learning the Sign Language is a miracle to enter into communication with the non-hearing” he said and encouraged all persons to learn it.
The journey to ensure that Deaf persons do not feel discriminated against at Mass started during the Mass for the 140th anniversary of the arrival of the first SMA missionaries in Ghana with a total of about 30 Deaf people in 2020.
Reverend Father René said, “Sign Language should be a second language that must be learnt by all”.
Meanwhile, the National Vice President of the Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled, (GSPD) Mr. Courage Wormenor has commended the Catholic Church for the positive development and encouraged all churches to do same.
He said churches should acknowledge that like all others, having a disabled or deaf person in a church was equally a blessing because the “Bible teaches the church to preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15-16) and every nation (Matthew 28:18-20).”
In an interview with this reporter on Wednesday, he said the disabled faced a lot of challenges including discrimination, stigmatization, social and physical barrier and that sadly, many of these challenges could be traced to unfounded religious beliefs.
“Soul winning of the disabled is necessary for every church but the building to host the disabled must be designed to suit them too; the disabled or the deaf should not be isolated from the congregation, the disabled must be among the people, and they must love them and offer chairs next to the “able” people so they fully and actively participate in the sermon”
“James 2: 1 – 6 talks about discrimination against the poor or the disabled the lessons every church must adopt to bring the disabled to the church” he said.
He noted that the Church of Christ, Church of Pentecost, and Jehovah’s Witness were some of the churches in Ghana that had the deaf ministry and so was happy that the Catholic Church had joined.
Pictures of Reverend Father Renè (in white) doing a sign language interpretation at mass.
The National Vice President for the GSPD, Mr Courage Wormenor (in blue).
From Dzifa Tetteh Tay, Tema.
News
Okudzeto Ablakwa meets US Ambassador over imposition of 10% tariff
The Ambassador of the United States of America, Her Excellency Virginia Palmer today honoured an invitation from the Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (MP) to discuss the imposition of 10% tariff by the United States of America on Ghana, effective April 5, 2025.
The Deputy Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Sampson Ahi and other officials from his Ministry joined the meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The US Ambassador indicated that the tariff did not maliciously target Ghana but was intended
to address the significant trade imbalances between the USA and its partners such as Ghana.
The Ambassador however, informed that the tariff is being imposed, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA).
She further intimated that the 10% tariff imposition exempts some products like oil and gas,
and energy related products that Ghana exports to the United States.
It emerged that products
exported under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) initiative are affected.
The meeting additionally discussed the possible exemption of other sectors, particularly with cocoa and garments.
Both sides agreed towork together to mitigate challenges including
potential job losses.
The Ministries of Foreign A ffairs and Trade, Agribusiness and Industry would continue to engage the USA authorities on how to mitigate and alleviate the effect of the tariffs on Ghanaian businesses and the Ghanaian economy generally through bilateral and diplomatie means.
Ghana and the USA affirm their strong and cordial relations.
News
Disciplinary Committee Sitting: Adwoa Safo fumes after‘No-Show’
The former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Dome Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo, today stormed the party’s headquarters at Asylum Down with her supporters.
This was to follow up on an invitation to appear before the party’s disciplinary committee, unfortunately, the committee did not sit today.
Addressing the media at the party’s headquarters, Adwoa Safo said she was unaware of the decision to suspend her appearance before the disciplinary committee today.
“There was no committee sitting today. I had an engagement with a national party officer, but there was no hearing. I’m left wondering why I was served a summons on a Sunday for a meeting that didn’t take place. If there was a change of plans, why wasn’t I personally informed? Why wasn’t I contacted by phone? Some of you have my number directly,” she said.
She further added, “As a party, we need to take these matters more seriously. I came here ready for the committee meeting, but now I find myself in a situation where there’s no hearing, no committee, and no explanation. This could have been handled much more effectively.”
“The message being sent to the public is that I have done something wrong, something untoward, and that I have come here to be disciplined,” she said.
The former Member of Parliament expressed frustration, “I’ve come here, but there is no one here, which suggests the case is either baseless or there is no finding on it. I thought this matter could have been handled better, which is why I came here today to see what was happening, only to find nothing has been done.” Is this how I’m being treated? It’s disheartening.”
Adwoa Safo reaffirmed her commitment to the party “I will be available to appear before the party whenever I’m called upon.”
The party summoned her to the disciplinary committee following her comments on JoyNews’ The Pulse show, which was considered as a direct violation of an earlier directive prohibiting members from discussing matters that could create disaffection and unrest within the party.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
