The Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, has called for a concerted national effort to restore public confidence in state and religious institutions, warning that declining trust could undermine efforts to mobilise citizens for national development.
Mr Ayariga said citizens were more likely to support government policies and national initiatives when they had confidence in the institutions responsible for delivering public services and addressing their concerns.
“If we don’t rebuild trust, it becomes very difficult to mobilise the citizenry and galvanise them behind us to pursue key social and economic objectives,” he stressed.
The Minister made the call when the Committee of the National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving paid a courtesy visit to congratulate him on his appointment and formally engage him and the management of the ministry.
According to Mr Ayariga, years of what he described as mismanagement of public affairs had contributed to growing mistrust among citizens. He added that misconduct by some religious leaders had also affected confidence in faith-based institutions.
He therefore urged both government and religious organisations to work together to rebuild confidence and strengthen the relationship between citizens and institutions.
Mr Ayariga said local government had a particularly important role to play because it represented one of the most direct points of contact between citizens and the state. He explained that people often judged the performance of the entire government based on their everyday experiences with local authorities.
Assembly members, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, Mayors and Coordinating Directors, he noted, were among the public officials citizens interacted with most frequently.
He said his priority was consequently to ensure that local government institutions became more responsive, efficient and capable of meeting the needs of communities.
The Minister also identified sanitation as an area where the effectiveness of local governance could directly influence public confidence. He said maintaining clean communities required systems that enabled citizens to play their part rather than relying solely on individual responsibility.
“If you don’t have the systems that work, you invite apathy and there’ll be chaos and the result is insanitary conditions,” he said.
Mr Ayariga further called for deeper collaboration with churches and mosques to promote behavioural change and responsible environmental practices. He said religious institutions possessed significant influence and social capital that could be harnessed to support government efforts in addressing sanitation and other community challenges.
Beyond development issues, the Minister pledged to strengthen engagement with religious leaders to protect Ghana’s tradition of peaceful coexistence among different faiths.
He described religious harmony as an important national inheritance that must be safeguarded and transmitted to future generations.
Mr Ayariga also pointed to the expanding contribution of religious organisations to national development, noting that many had established hospitals, schools, universities, financial institutions and housing projects in response to the needs of citizens.
He said the state had historically supported some of these initiatives through the provision of personnel and other forms of assistance, making stronger state-faith partnerships necessary to maximise their contribution to national development.
The Minister urged religious leaders to use their influence and experience to help restore public confidence, stressing that rebuilding trust in Ghana’s institutions could not be achieved by government alone.
He assured the religious leadership that his ministry remained open to their advice and guidance, insisting that restoring confidence in the country’s institutions required a collective and system-wide effort.
