Politics of deception: ‘God chooses the president’

Ghana is a Christian country as said by many. Though according to the precepts of Christianity, it is not easy to point out who is actually a true Christian except by God; our Statistical Department tells us there are 71.2% Christians in the country. This is per the 2010 population census. Adding Muslims of 17.6%, who profess some level of faith similar to Christians, we can readily say that there are 88.8% ‘good people’ scattered across the country. If we should accept the report of Statistical Agency as the true reflection of God’s election then more Ghanaians will be seen in His Kingdom. That will be very nice. This shear number of ‘good people’ perhaps has given politicians a clue of how to win people’s sympathy and admiration.

I have followed with keen interest how politicians openly profess their faith and show strong believes in God. Some even say God has chosen them or divine selection has brought them to power. With the ‘Christian Country’ perception at the back of their minds, they know showing some level of interest in God will win them power. They move from church to church kneeling down for ‘special prayers’ and seeking God’s intervention on the path they have chosen. Some even make it to look like their opponents are unworthy and for them God has chosen them at all cost. This reflects mostly during the race for the Presidency. Some are tagged ‘God chosen’ while others God has not yet call them. We hear remarks such as ‘he will never become President in this country’, ‘if God has not chosen you, you can never become President’, ‘as for him God has given him to Ghanaians’ and others. Some even go the extent of making gestures which depict their stance as ‘true Christians’ such as pointing fingers to the skies or branding themselves with names. All these are for one purpose: to appeal to the Christian populace in order to win political power.

The question now comes to mind: ‘does God choose Presidents for nations in our time’. While some hold the strong view that yes God is still in the business of choosing Kings or Presidents for nations others think it displaces the idea of democracy. It is indeed rather hard to understand those who uphold the view that God chooses Kings or Presidents. If democracy has the hand of God in it then nobody will queue to go and vote and every four years, we will expect God to do that for us. It is clear that those who approve this idea have forgotten God respects the will of man and would not like to impost on any individual. Also, if we accept the premise that ‘democracy is the will of the people’ then any elected President is by the will of the people. The time of theocracy, where God chose Kings for nations, is over. There are many reasons which come together to render this notion of ‘God chooses a President for a nation’ deceptive.

Let even agree that our current President and all other past Presidents were chosen by God. God does not choose a King or President for any reason. It will be for a clear purpose for why He did it. The President (God’s chosen) is assumed to be bringing the solution to people’s problem because God has sent him to relieve the ordinary men and women including children from their predicaments. We have seen on many occasions and continue to see how successive governments continue to wallow in corruption and constant rape of the nation’s purse at the expense of the ordinary man. If God chose the President then why is he not able to meet the people’s needs or find lasting solution to them. All the kings God chose in Bible at least met the needs of their people. Why do the poor continue to be poor and less privilege continue to lack opportunities in life? Why can’t the President (God’s chosen) purge his government from corruption and looting?

The President does not work alone; he works with people. Some members of his team cannot be necessarily Christians. They may belong to other religions or be people who don’t have heart for their fellow men. The President (if God chosen) is obliged to choose only Christians to govern but he ends up appointing people he feels they can do the job of which many are not Christians or may not even belong to any religion. This is pure democracy not theocracy; people chosen not God.

What is even intrigue about politics in our country is the quantum employment of black magic to win power. We have heard on numerous airwaves how politicians are either visiting Benin for juju to dislodge their opponents or to turn round people’s mind or burying live sheep to usurp supernatural powers to attract admiration or wearing special rings to win people’s mind and many others. Black magic has raided Africa continent for centuries and still dominates the affairs of people. There is no doubt that many of these politicians will seek refuse in juju if the need arises. Let take it that the President will not be part of this juju asylum seekers. What about his team? Some will definitely have a double mind and use juju within and end up tainting his Presidency with evil. God is not pleased with the double minded or idol worshippers. A God chosen Presidency should be free from juju.

The whole idea of democracy defeats totally the notion that ‘God chooses the President’. If God will choose the President for Ghana every four years then we do not need a democracy but a set of Christian Scholars or National Prophets to tell us whom God has chosen among the respective candidates. We don’t need to spend time making all these debates or squabbles on Tvs and Radios to disturb the peace of Ghanaians. If a President does not perform well or is not during well and is still chosen by God, we have no say than to comply or accept it as our divine lot. Then we can conclusively say people’s suffering and poverty under a particular non-performing President is divinely approved and as such complaining or murmuring means blaspheming or opposing God’s will indirectly. Democracy clearly reflects the will of the people not the will of God. Simply that is what the people want not what God want.

What is particularly lamentable is the numerous ‘illiterates’ dominating our population. People are influenced with money to vote or coerced by means of giving them miniature jobs or items of value such as laptops. No better analyses are made by the voters; they follow hugely propaganda as dispersed by the political parties. This candidate is a ‘wee smoker, warmonger, arrogant, womanizer’, the other one is ‘from humble beginning, corrupt free, God fearing’ are the orders of the day. No proper issues of importance are digested by these ‘illiterates’ voters’. ‘They say, they say’ becomes the only the hot issues of discussion. Even those who are literates fail to do some level of analyses or approach things with independent and discerning minds. When party A comes to power I will get work to do and more money as well, my business will flourish etc. this is what their educated mind can reckon with. It is therefore purely by coincidence or by merely a chance or luck that a person gets elected under democracy considering all these instances. No God fearing politician will take advantage of the illiterates, win their votes and abandon them later.

Can we say now that politicians are using God’s name to deceive and mislead ‘Christian Ghana’. When the masses suffer and grow lean while the political elites (those in power) continue to enjoy and fatten themselves with the national cake. When the inequality gap continues to widen beyond measure: the poor is still poor and worst; the average man is still the same and unsatisfied and the rich continues to be rich and dominating. Rural Ghana is worst affected where no opportunities stare at them at all and continues to live under the threshold of poverty. Many promises in the name of God just to win power do not depict any accent of Christianity. Using the name of God or mentioning his name several times in one’s campaign does make you more Christian than another. Using gestures pointing to the skies with one’s finger does not make you God chosen. All these are opportunistic way of deceiving the people and misleading them. The numerous propagandas surrounding politics cannot be God-borne. The lies, the backbiting, the insults, the blackmailing, the slandering, the lobbying, the coercions, buying people’s franchise with money etc. as a means of getting one into the highest office on our land cannot be God-chosen.

Long have these politicians taunted us with deception and palpable lies. Visit numerous ministries and see how family queues are making the ministers not to concentrate. The Presidency is worst affected; family lineage, it’s our time let enjoy at the expense of the weak, the vulnerable, the poor and the less privileged in the society. Absolutely nothing can justify the stance that ‘a President is chosen by God’. The last election is over, they are now thinking about how to grab another power with new schemes of deception and lies. They claim they are working for us while in reality they are working for themselves and their families. Time will not permit me to talk about the increasing depravity in our society.

God is not mocked; every politicians who claims God has chosen him or her must think about and work assiduously to relieve the poor and less privilege who have been sidelined in the society because of inequality and unfair distribution of the national cake. He must increase the opportunities of many to get them satisfied with basic needs; he must arrest corruption, nepotism and favouritism and nip them in the bud. He must promote decent politics and embrace the views of his opponents and not to slander, intimidate or blackmail them. This we can say with some level of confident that God’s hand is on the President.

Long live mother Ghana, long live our democracy.

Isaac Ofori (BA Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana, Legon, Certificate ‘A’, Komenda College)

Email: isaacofori2000@yahoo.com contact: 0249403277