Young Positivist Writes: Latter-day charlatans

Folks, I have decided to discuss a sensitive issue that borders on some aspect of Christianity as we draw closer to this year’s election in December. There are a lot of unscrupulous charlatans who claim to be men of God and have crept into politics and are causing confusion in the system. They have studied the political space, seen the desperation of politicians, and are taking advantage of it with all kinds of useless and baseless prophecies.

According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census by the Ghana Statistical Service, about 71% of Ghana’s population are Christians. Even though this is a huge number, it does not in any way make Ghana a Christian or religious country. Ghana has been and will continue to be a circular country. Because of this huge number of Christians, a lot of phony pastors have sprung out from nowhere and claim to see things they have not seen.

Politics and religion have coexisted for centuries because these religious platforms allow politicians to market themselves. Politicians have always courted the church for political expediency and its spiritual protection. And because of these, some impious people have entered the system and are taking advantage of it.

The noise of these so-called men of God becomes even louder when it is an election year. You hear prophecies which make no sense, but because they are pleasing to the ears of some politicians, these men of God say whatever they want. This has become a business venture in Ghana, and these men of God are really exploiting them.

It has become an open secret that there are a lot of political pastors or men of God who only see doom or fortune depending on the political party in power, be it the National Democratic Congress (NDC) or the New Patriotic Party (NPP). These people have turned their pulpits into a political arena where they push their preferred political party agenda.

When their party is in power, they have a different way of preaching their sermons and vice versa. They become angry and aggressive when their party is in opposition. They bark and wail each Sunday about the mismanagement of the country. Their modus operandi change the moment their party comes into office. Thanks to these pastors, we know there is an NPP God and an NDC God!

They do everything to promote their party agenda to influence their members. When their party comes into office and things get tougher, they do not dare to speak. They are unable to criticise or condemn any atrocity in the country. They have a compromised and entrenched position; therefore, their sense of reasoning and their core duty to call out the ills in society vanishes. In most cases, they become chief propagandists for these politicians.

Before the 2016 general elections, some of these crooks did not miss any chance to criticise the government at the least opportunity they got. Many of them claimed John Mahama was a bad omen for the country, and which was why the country was heading for doom. Most of these political pastors or charlatans used their platforms to paint Mahama black and make Akufo-Addo a saint.

It is because of the bias of these pastors that Akufo-Addo said he had made a promise to God to build a cathedral. A cathedral for God? Has God now become homeless?! This issue, which I have spoken profoundly about in my previous articles, has now become a hot issue in the country. Someone claims God wants him to build a house and all pastors jump at it without properly asking logical questions. They followed blindly, and now the national cathedral has become a pit. The amount of money the country has wasted in this senseless cathedral could have been used for a better project.

Today, the NDC God and pastors have started with their shenanigans of prophecies, claiming John Mahama will win this year’s election. All these pastors have their agenda or interest in supporting John Mahama. Some of them will get a pass easily when the NDC is in office, and that is why they are pushing the agenda. If Mahama wins and assumes office, these people would see no evil in the country, especially when they are continuously presented with brown envelopes.

In this 21st century, instead of political parties and politicians being interested in research, science and data, they rely on hungry pastors to predict their political fortunes. They put their trust in these charlatans more than research. While developed democratic politicians always check the polls and surveys, some Ghanaian politicians put their fates in prophecies for their political success. If we want to progress in our democracy to become one of the best in the world, then we need a new paradigm in all aspects of our politics.

Today, the NPP God and pastors say Mahamudu Bawumia will win while the NDC pastors also say John Mahama will win, and these charlatans want us to believe that the God of Abraham told them. Instead of Mahama and Bawumia focusing on science and data, they have bought into these manipulative prophecies. When was the last time Mahama or Bawumia spoke about research or data which put them ahead in the race? How many polls and surveys have they conducted? These are the pertinent things they need to do and not gallivant from one pastor to the other as if they have no purpose.

The danger with what these unscrupulous men of God do is that they put the country in a dangerous situation. Have they thought about the situation where their predictions do not happen? Will they blame the Electoral Commission for rigging the election in favour of one party? How do they maintain any credibility in the presence of their members?

It is only the people of Ghana who can decide who will be the next president of Ghana, and not whatever a charlatan says. These tricksters can see heaven and earth, but if the people of Ghana do not vote for whoever they want, not even their God can decide. What they must do is to ask their God for peace before, during and after the election. If there is peace, they are the major beneficiaries because their members will bring in more offerings. No one should compromise the peace of this country, and especially not in an election year.

Young Positivist, a concerned citizen of Ghana.