Accra: President John Dramani Mahama has called on Ghanaians to embrace humility and rebuild strong family ties, stressing that love and support within the extended family are essential to promoting mental well-being and strengthening society. Delivering a sermon on Sunday, August 2, 2026, at the Ringway Gospel Centre as part of the church's Men's Ministry Week celebration, President Mahama reminded the congregation that wealth, power, and status are temporary.
According to Ghana Web, the President urged people to live with humility, noting that everyone ultimately faces the same fate regardless of their position in society. "Who am I? You know who I am. You will go six feet down," he said, before joking that with modern cemeteries accommodating multiple burials, "they buried two people there already, so you get two feet, not even six feet," he illustrated.
Using the humorous remark to emphasize his message, the President said Ghanaians must return to the values that helped build strong homes, churches, and communities. He encouraged people to extend love beyond their spouses and children to include siblings, cousins, nephews, nieces, and other relatives, saying such relationships formed the foundation of Ghanaian family life in the past.
Reflecting on his childhood, President Mahama recalled how his parents ensured that the family regularly visited relatives and maintained close relationships with members of the extended family. "I remember when I was growing, I knew all my cousins and my aunties, uncle this, uncle that. My father would put us in the car and we'd visit family, sit together, play, eat and spend time together," he recounted.
The President also reminisced about how his mother prepared extra food for relatives and neighbors, with the children often delivering bowls of food to different homes as an expression of love and togetherness. He lamented that such traditions are gradually disappearing as many families focus only on the nuclear household, warning that the weakening of family support systems is contributing to growing mental health challenges.
"That's why mental health illness is increasing. Because the love of family is no longer there," he said. President Mahama urged the congregation to revive the culture of caring for one another, arguing that stronger family bonds and genuine concern for relatives are essential to building healthier communities and addressing the growing burden of mental health challenges.