The flag of Ghana
Ghana is a secular state, but ironically its population is predominantly adherents of various faiths. We typically have in the country the practitioners of African traditional religions, Muslims, and Christians. Other religious groups such as Buddhists, Baha'i, Hari krishnas, etc., are in the minority.
Most of the Ghanaians we see as believers in traditional religions sometimes do worship together with Christians. So basically, we shall group these two groupings as one people in this article in order to help us discuss the above topic reflecting upon the activities surrounding Muslims and Christians in Ghana.
Normally Muslims fill their mosques to capacity to worship God, especially during occasions such as the Friday prayers (Jummah), the Eid-ul-Fitr, and Eid-ul-Adha celebrations, as well as the Ramadhan fasting.
In similar fashion, Christians also throng their various churches during some of their festivities like Christmas, Easter, New Year, and of course the Sunday Church services to pray to God.
Muslims observe some of their religious obligations by praying five times a day. In the past, around the seventies, Christians used to be more active in the church on Sundays only. The trend has now changed tremendously and we see many churches operating everyday. The picture I have painted portrays all of us as Godfearing people. Yes, we are! But what kind of Godfearing people are we? We fear God because we are always afraid that He may decide at anytime to inflict upon us his wrath. We behave like the sons and daughters of God, but in actual fact we rather practice vice and shun virtue.
This attitude we are demonstrating reminds me of the fantastic motto of the United States of America which reads, "In God We Trust". But surprisingly, contrary to this wonderful motto, the US is earnestly promoting the activities of gays and lesbians which they have now upgraded and termed LGBTQ+. May God have mercy!
The system of governance here in Ghana seems to favour the elite, especially the politician, more than the ordinary Ghanaian. Many institutions of state have been compromised by corrupt practices. We are ourselves witnesses to our corrupt nature. Actually, we are all living in the state of corruption. Political party leaders attest to this fact and they themselves always accuse each other of how corrupt they are.
When they are campaigning and looking for votes they tell voters that they are Muslims and Christians who want to come to power and help them. They say the voters must vote for them to come and rescue them from the economic hardship they are facing as well as to stop corruption and bad governance in the country. When they get the vote and they come to power they behave more corrupt than their predecessors.
Since the introduction of the 1992 4th Republican Constitution which enables the current democratic dispensation, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) are the only two political parties which have been winning the presidential elections in Ghana successively. The constitution has granted more power and authority to the president. This also reminds me of the common political adage which says, "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely".
Fortunately however, Ghanaian voters also wield power (they call it 'Kokromoti', meaning their thumbs and referring to how they use it to change governments), unfortunately their power has become powerless because they have been manipulated by corrupt politicians through vote buying.
When we entrust power to politicians and they abuse it through corruption we must be smart not to join them in their corrupt practices otherwise the entire nation will suffer. If Ghanaians want to see an improvement in their living conditions they must work out a plan for it.
Although they can all stick to their respective political parties, they must come together to form an alliance or association of various political party supporters so as to deal with the challenges confronting us regarding corruption in our successive governments. The politicians may suspend the support they give you but God is always there to support those who do the right thing.
In Luke 12:24 it reads, "Consider the ravens: They neither sow seed nor reap; they have neither barn nor storehouse; yet God feeds them. Are you not worth much more than birds?"
Quran 13:11 also reads, "Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves."
The ball is now in our court. As Muslims and Christians or NDCs or NPPs or whatever party we have, we either adhere to the messages in our religious scriptures and do the right thing to prosper or we still maintain the status quo and continue to suffer the consequences.
