The General Superintendent of Assemblies of God Ghana, Rev. Dr. Stephen Y. Wengam, has given a gripping account of how President John Mahama narrowly escaped being on board the helicopter that crashed on Wednesday, killing top government and military officials.

“People have been calling and posting on social media and saying Assemblies of God, thank you for saving our president’s life. It’s not about the clapping.

"Listen carefully. We did nothing except that. That’s why the speaker said, You must be prophetic. You don’t need to be a prophet.”

Rev. Wengam recalled receiving a call the previous week from the President’s Secretary, Dr. Callistus Mahama.

“When last week, I received a call from the President’s Secretary [Dr Callistus Mahama] that he will not be able to come today, and that he had been invited to la cote to be the special guest of honour for their independence [Day celebration] and that His Excellency had asked the Vice President and his wife [Lordina Mahama] to come in this place. I said, Thank you, Dr Callistus.”

But he was not at peace with the development.

“Then I call Reverend Bawa and said ‘Reverend Bawa, the President said he can’t make it, and I don’t accept it, go mobilise the prayer team and pray and reverse it. Rev Bawa is my witness. Where is he asking? I told him. I said, I don’t accept it.”

Things escalated on Monday.

“Then Monday, when we arrived, I was a bit late. I was just coming, and the First Lady called me very angry. said, ‘Pastor, President says that he’s going to la Côte d’Ivoire, but no, we are coming for this program. We have planned for this program long ago. No way’. It was a battle on the phone. Battle on the phone. She said, ‘Don’t accept it’.”

While still on the call with the First Lady, the President himself tried reaching him. “I was talking with her when the President was calling. I said, Mama, ‘president is calling. It’s okay. I’m going off. I don’t agree’. So the President explained. I said, ’Your Excellency, I understand, your will be done’.”

Rev. Wengam continued, “Then when I was leading prayer, I saw mama calling again. I couldn’t receive the call. Then she sent a text and said ‘we are coming on Wednesday’, so the president can travel on Thursday. So that was how it was averted.”

He reflected on what could have happened if plans had not changed. “If he had come today, he would have travelled yesterday.”

In closing, Rev. Wengam offered a sobering message to pastors.

“So when the speaker says, We must be prophetic, every pastor, and this comes by being very prayerful, spending time hours before the daily, not that you pray on Monday, you don’t pray Wednesday, when you're going to preach on Saturday, then you start fasting off.”