Unlike many other critics of Ghanaian prophets, I believe in prophecy. Unlike some others who believe in prophecy and prophets, however, I don’t chase prophecy.

I know many prophets, some of whom foretell events with pinpoint accuracy, but I would not run around looking for prophets to tell me what will happen to me tomorrow.

Like all human gifts, and as is being demonstrated in Ghana every day, spiritual gifts often get abused, so prophecy has become the hottest commodity to sell for profit in Ghana.

Phoneys? They are not hard to identify. You’d know when you meet them, for they are greedy for fame, money, and power over congregations. Usually, even before they have opened their mouths, their character will betray them: they bear no Christian fruit.

It is their fake operation that gave rise to the order by the immediate past IGP against December 31 “watchnight prophesies” about the impending deaths of prominent people.

It is this same prophecy-for-gain commercialisation spree that compelled the Presidential Envoy for Interfaith and Ecumenical Relations to issue a letter, last August 10, instructing religious leaders to relay any “spiritual insight of a national nature”, especially those concerning high-profile political leaders to his office for “urgent review and appropriate escalation.”

Has it come to this!

The real question, however, should be: na who cause am?

Advising against the order, a group calling itself the Apostolic Fathers, has said: “We doubt whether regulation alone can bring sanity to this situation. However, we believe that if we, the fathers and the Church, sit down together, by grace and wisdom, we can sanitise the situation and the system.”

Similar sentiments have been expressed by

Afriyie Ankrah has himself to blame. Questions posed by former General Secretary of the Christian Council, Rev. Dr. Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, such as, “Which people are going to review the prophecy? How does a politician teach pastors what to do? “Which people are going to review the prophecy?  How does a politician teach pastors what to do?” could have been answered if he had consulted before he wrote his August 10 letter.

I find it unfortunate because these criticisms have a tendency to water down the urgent necessity for what I consider to be a very important advisory, which our society needs to restore our sanity.

Having said this, I turn to the concerned Clergy. Regulation alone cannot bring sanity into the chaos, it is true, as pointed out by the Apostolic Fathers. However, Dr. Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong knows, and the rest of the concerned Clergy of Ghana cannot pretend to be unaware of the several failed attempts to bring these prophets and some pastors under authority.

They think they are so gifted that no one should have the temerity to attempt to seek to bring them under regulation. These so-called supremely gifted prophets hate ecumenism: in their many years as founders of their churches, they have become used to not being questioned or faulted.

We cannot continue to live amid alarms and chaos. Governments should have the right to decide the inappropriateness of a prophecy that says “the President or Vice President is going to die”. It tends to create alarm, and I submit that civilised society needs to self-regulate.

The prophets have no one but themselves to blame. The deception and conning have gone unchecked for too long. Too many prophecies have proved false in this country. In the run-up to Election 2024, some prophets predicted that the results “will not be announced on December 6 or 7 or 8. The results will be announced on the 9th, and the result is clear: Dr Mahamadu Bawumia will be declared the winner”. That ‘prophet’ still attracts crowds.

I saw on KSM’s programme last week, the video of a prophet who, in December, said that his church should be burnt if Mahama won the elections! As of August 13, 2025, his church still stands; he still takes offerings; he still struts around, asking people to “sow a seed”, thanks to the gullibility of Ghanaians.

With specific reference to the August 6 fatal helicopter crash, why has it become so important for prophets to rush to announce that “I foresaw it”?

I think our wrong conception of who God is and what religion is has been conspiring with superstition and lack of knowledge to plunge Ghana into chaos.

What is the answer? I like the Rwanda way. There, the government enacted a law in 2018 designed to regulate the proliferation of places of worship. The law mandates theological training for preachers, bans the use of loud public address systems, and requires churches to maintain proper safety standards, including soundproofing, hygiene, and basic infrastructure.

I said on this page three years ago that the activities of some Christians are costing God thousands of admirers. If Portugal, the UK and Germany, who brought Christian churches to Africa, are today turning their backs on Christianity, it is the direct result of actions by the crooked majority among their “men of God”. 

Christians are creating a dark image for Christianity. They are turning all of us into cynics.