General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev. Cyril Fayose, has pushed back against growing calls for religious leaders to stay silent on political issues.

He insists that the clergy have a duty to speak on national matters without fear of being tagged partisan.

Speaking on PM Express with Evans Mensah, Rev. Fayose acknowledged the delicate balance clergy must strike, given the diversity within their congregations.

“The Christian Council member churches are careful to be non-partisan. They are non-partisan in their dealings with members of their congregations, because the members of our congregations belong to all the parties,” he said.

He explained that this diversity demands restraint in tone, but not silence. “As a leader of people from diverse party affiliations, you must respect their sensibilities, so you should not make certain statements,” he noted.

However, he rejected the suggestion that such caution should prevent the church from speaking on governance and national issues.

“But that is not to say that we should not make comments on political happenings in our country without the fear that we will be branded as belonging to one party or the other,” he said.

Rev. Fayose was emphatic about the church’s responsibility in public discourse. “No, we have to say it as it is,” he stressed, framing the role of the clergy as one rooted in truth-telling rather than political alignment.

He grounded his position in democratic principles, pointing to the local understanding of democracy.

“We have described democracy in our local language as ‘Kabi na menka bi’, to wit ‘Everyone must have their freedom of speech’, so we all have the right to speak,” he said.

The comments come at a time when public debate continues over the role of religious institutions in Ghana’s political space, with some critics urging restraint while others call for stronger moral voices on governance.

Rev. Fayose aligned the church’s stance with a broader civic duty, invoking a well-known call to citizenship.

He referenced former President Nana Akufo-Addo, noting that he is “famously quoted as saying that we should be ‘citizens and not spectators’.”

“And that’s all we are doing,” Rev. Fayose said. “We are not going out to declare our support for a particular party or a particular Party’s position.”

Instead, he framed the church’s engagement as constructive oversight.

“We are out there to help comment on the actions of our leaders so that together, we’ll have a better country,” he said.