Political apathy on the part of the church in Ghana

It grieves me that there has not been any political leadership from the church in Ghana. The problem in Ghana today and in most countries throughout the world is leadership. The bible says and l paraphrase “ there was no leader in Israel and everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” In my first article “ personal observation in Ghana” published in the famous Ghanaweb on the 31st of December 2003, l lamented about automobile emissions and corruption in Ghana.

Why should these negative attitudes go on in Ghana whilst our leaders stand up and stare? One would ask why have you become part of the brain drain? You might be right, I apologize for that but to tell you the truth I ran away from the country because of corruption which has permeated throughout the fabric of the society to the point that the church is even affected. However my departure from the country and my other colleagues is not all that negative since we remit money into the economy of Ghana. Again we share what we have learnt from the countries we have been.

Let me come back to the main issues here. The church is supposed to give us God fearing people in leadership who hate dishonest gain, who think about the entire population of Ghana not their wives and children and extended family as it is in Ghana today. Leadership in Ghana today has become “now that we have the papacy lets enjoy it” when we look at American history, we see that almost all the founding fathers were God fearing people who laid a good foundation for the country.

Even as I speak now people in power here do not aspire to power for their own good but for the betterment of the people. This is not to say there is no corruption in America. The press as a watchdog in America will not spare you if they detect corruption to the point that even statements from political leaders are analyzed critically and can cost you your political position.

There has been a search in the air about Africa’s solution. Most of the problem boils down to the selfishness. Looking at a small picture instead of the larger. All qualities that a leader is supposed to have are taught in the bible and I believe God has heard the cry of Ghana. When I visited Ghana there were a lot of inscriptions on cars, houses, kiosks about God with “ In God we trust” being predominant. God is not wicked. He has heard our prayer and it is now the challenge of the church regardless of denominations to produce us God-fearing leadership. As I speak I will be willing to move to Ghana regardless of my comfort here to help in whatever position necessary if God opens such an opportunity.

Elder Peter K. Oppong
Boston, MA USA.
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