The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana Rt.Rev. Prof Joseph Obiri Yeboah says it is not his duty as Moderator and Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana to join the opposition to fight government.
According to him, as a leader of the two christian organizations, he owes it a duty to support the government in power and help it succeed.
“As a moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, it is not my duty to join opposition. No! No !No! No ! It is my duty to help every government no matter which government it is to succeed and I will do my best to help government to succeed and pray for this government that the government will succeed and do better to the glory of God”.
The moderator said this Friday, June 17, 2022 during the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of Abetifi Presbyterian College of Education (ABETICOE).
The comment comes in the wake of mounting pressure on the clergy over their seeming failure to criticise the government on issues of national concern as they used to do under the previous administration.
The General Superintendent of Assemblies of God Church Ghana Rev. Prof. Paul Frimpong Manso in an interview with the media in Koforidua urged the clergy to live up to their role as voice of conscience of the nation by speaking out on issues of national interest without fear, favour and bias.
He said God has raised the clergy to speak truth to power to demand social justice and equity and become voice for the voiceless whilst at the same time be partners of development.
“Because they are afraid of what people will say, oh he is NDC, he is NPP, and you will get these Politicians speaking against us, when we speak they will say the pastors are speaking too much, when we don’t speak they will say the pastors are not speaking. To me God has raised ministers of the gospel as the conscience of the nation, we are to speak for the voiceless”
Meanwhile, former moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, Ghana Very Rev. Prof.Emmanuel Martey about a month ago gave reasons why the clergy is quiet in Ghana despite widespread perceived corruption and social ills.
He cited issues such as insults by political foot soldiers on Social media in particular, bribes, fear of losing members, and fear of criticising corrupt officials in some ethnic groups.
“Many clergy are afraid of insults. Look, Ghanaians can insult very well. Prophetic utterances from the throne of God condemning evil, regardless, bring judgment upon wrongdoers and corrupt society. Most of the time guilty society reacts to Prophetic utterances negatively and with insult. Many pastors cannot withstand such insults and therefore just keep quiet amidst corruption but they forget, that was the way the master works”.
He continued that some pastors have been compromised with bribes as they naively continue to accept gifts from politicians.
“Unwise acceptance of gifts. Some pastors naively and innocently accept gifts that turn out to be baits and bribes which subsequently morsel church leaders from preaching prophetic messages with power. Sometimes such so-called gifts and their accompanying conversation are secretly recorded and that spells doom for the pastor”.
“Many church leaders are afraid to speak against corrupt politicians of the same ethnic groups as theirs. They fear they will be accused of betrayal of ethnic brothers and siblings. They are also afraid that church members belonging to the ethnic group of corrupt people they speak against will leave with their money as well.
“Some do not speak because they want to have political assets and influence. Some clergy and Christians will muzzle their prophetic voice in other to gain political assets from big and corrupt people and to have political influence and powers”.