NDC And The Church!

As a Christian, I cannot overlook the stand of a party when it comes to religious matters. Every party though, is formed by people of different believes and backgrounds and this is very acceptable. But a party seen as one against my own religion as a Christian can never be my best choice. Living in a state which allows freedom of worship, I expect that whatever religion I belong to should have the same freedom as others. The ruling NDC under my focal lens has displayed some deeds which spelt a disapproval on their side for true Christianity. It has almost become an established fact that NDC is anti Chriatian. Read on and prove me wrong.

In the early to mid 80s, I had the habit of going to a lorry park where a certain evangelist(One Evg Asare) use to stand in the open and preach the gospel. I loved his message so much that I always went there to feed my hungry spirit with the word of God. One day I went there and met his place empty with only a few people who had missed his preaching that evening like myself. Upon asking for the reasons for his absence, I was told he had been arrested by some security men from the castle for daring to preach against the Rawlings Regime. He was later released but his instruments with which he did the public broadcasting had been seized. The Evg came back with a more determined spirit to preach the gospel. He told us of the ordeal he went through under the hands of the castle boys. He told us how he was badly beaten and made to walk naked for a long distance before he caught up with a good samaritan who first took him for a mad man to help him.


Again I listened to Evg Morgan in a place at Kumasi called Adui Nkwanta where he narrated how security men arrested him to Accra and gave him severe beatings and a strict warning not to ever preach the gospel again. He also told listeners of a similar experience as the other Evg. He was stripped naked leaving only his underpants on him, with which he walked to a friends house to have some pair of clothes to cover up. Evg. Degraft Osei Kwame was another man who warned Ghanains of the animosity of the Rawlings regime for Christianity.


Reverend Francis Akwasi Amoako of Resurrection Power and Living Bread Ministries stood in Takorade and preached of how the country was in the hands of murderers. After that crusade, he was going back to Kumasi when he was alleged met in the middle of the road by a military armored vehicle. The armored car allegedly drove into the car he was driving in causing a serious crash. The man of God was thrown out of the car to the middle of the road still alive and according to the gospel musicians who were with him on the journey Millitary men went where he was lying and stabbed him with bionets to death.


The PNDC had succeeded in creating the impression that they were against the church. Not just because of the persecution of these ministers makes me to have this thought but also some utterances from leading members of the party and especially their founder makes one to know their exact stand when it comes to matters of Christianity.


The first day I heard a President of a republic like Ghana to suggest that people ready to be sworn into public offices should be made to swear by a deity apart from God Almighty was when Rawlings made such a pronouncement. He boldly said that he preferred that those people were made to swear by an idol like antoah nyamaa because he believed in the justice system of idols than God. The same man is widely remembered for his saying that he respects God but does not fear him. Which although he has tried explaining on several occasions, has been deemed as a statement a man cannot justify when speaking to God almighty.


If it will be remembered, recently Tony Aidoo, one of the biggest guns in the NDC called christians crazy people who made noise. He called for a ban on churches in engaging in any activity which he classified as noise during their church programs.

The NDC has from the days of Rawlings tried to bring more taxes to the churches. Churches are normally registered as NGOs; non profit organizations and attempts to single them out for taxes from the numerous NGOs in Ghana shows the stand of the party against the church. Of course of the church is involved in other profit making businesses they must pay the tax. I can never agree that the chruch be taxed whilst other religions operate freely. Seeking to tax the church should have rather been to tax all religions in the country.


Under the leadership of President Mills this suggestion is being seriuously considered leading to the church body's threat to sue the government if they dare impose any illegal taxes on them as published in both the print and electronic media recently.


It was so hurting that the secretary general of the NDC and other spokespersons of the party lashed out at our distinguished men of God for urging the government to do it's best to implement the verification program for the biometric voting. Whilst general mosquito called them Hypocrites others said they were all NPP sympathizers. How could it be that all those men of God are NPP sympathizers if their claim is even true? Was is not these same men of God who helped to solve the looming problem after the 2008 run off which eventually saw NDC come to power?


The NDC from the days of Rawlings till now have showed an antagonistic relationship with the church and it is worst today, because party and governmemt representatives under the watch of president Mills("the holier than all") are busy accusing the church of backing the oppsition NPP. In his time our men of God have been most insulted and ridiculed.


Noah Dugubrame Asare. Frankfurt, Germany.