There are parliamentary and residential elections in less than four months. Religious leaders are appearing everywhere as the fight for votes heats up, telling their followers that it is up to all Ghanaians to make sure the elections are peaceful and go off without a hitch.

Everyone would agree that a democracy can only flourish in an environment where there are free and fair elections, no pressure on voters to cast a particular ballot, and a variety of viewpoints expressed in the media regarding the elections, including recommendations for presidential candidates and political party representatives.

All of this is important to the health of Ghana’s democracy.

The founder of Power Chapel Worldwide, which has its headquarters in Kumasi, Rev. Kusi Boateng, made headlines in early August with a widely publicized prophecy.

With “mayhem on the streets,” the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will lose more than 19 parliamentary seats, and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party will be “crowned” president.

In sharing God’s revelations on the elections, Rev. Boateng is not acting alone. Numerous prophets, such as Elijah A. M. Conteh of Revival Power Ministries Worldwide, a Sierra Leonean, have said that John Mahama of the NDC will be the next president after receiving a revelation from God regarding the latter.

The largest church in Ghana, the Church of Pentecost, has pledged to monitor voting in as many regions as it can in an effort to maintain peace and prevent any attempts at electoral fraud, such as stuffing ballot boxes with fictitious votes.

It is obvious that churches, like the Church of Pentecost, may be helpful in ensuring that ballots are cast properly and that the people’s will is ultimately carried out.

This is the way majoritarian democracies like Ghana’s operate, and it’s a major factor in the country’s democracy’s survival—if not outright flourishing—for over thirty years after the Fourth Republic was established, following ten years of authoritarian rule under the Provisional National Defence Council (1982–1993).

Forecasting election results
However, it is inappropriate for well-known pastors to predict election results.

They usually assert that they have received direct messages from God regarding the elections and that the public ought to be aware of God’s position on the matter. These prophesies are inappropriate in Ghana’s democracy since they affect how people vote.

“As the country’s democracy continues to evolve, a phenomenon which has become very disconcerting is fake prophecies and predictions of election results by some charlatans who parade themselves as prophets,” the Daily Graphic wrote in an editorial on February 5, 2024.

In Ghana, which is a democracy, how is this possible? First, how can the general public determine if the preachers are truly inspired by God, or if they are merely fabricating sermons to further their own political and personal agendas? To put it another way, how can we tell the actual item from a fake? What actions ought voters to take upon hearing a prophecy like this?

After hearing a pastor’s remarks regarding the elections, should they alter their vote?

A few well-known pastors have a close personal and political relationship with one of the leading presidential contenders. When they say God has spoken to them, are they acting impartially, or are their prophesies fake, made in a political manner to support a particular presidential candidate?

Rev. Dr. Komi A. Hiagbe, the Rector of the Global Theological Seminary, told the Daily Graphic in February 2024 that those prophesies originated with people who wanted the populace to think that God had selected particular leaders for the nation.

He thinks the impact of those prophecies on the country is concerning since some individuals who identify as men of God make predictions that contradict one another during elections, which could sway congregation members’ decisions regarding who to vote for.

antagonistic to democracy
While Rev. Hiagbe is right, I would go one step farther. Such forecasts, in my opinion, are anti-democratic and constitute an intolerable infiltration of religion into politics. Remember that Ghana is a secular nation protected by the constitution, meaning that no religion is valued more than any other.

Despite the fact that over 70% of Ghanaians identify as Christians, celebrity preachers should not be allowed to spread political predictions when an election is about to take place since doing so could be harmful to democracy.

In a secular democracy, they are engaging in unacceptable political intervention. It’s possible that Revs. Boateng and Conteh are just expressing their own political opinions.

These could be in line with what God has informed them, or it could be that the prophets don’t know God’s viewpoints and their prophesies aren’t to be believed or trusted.
What needs to be carried out?

Political prophesies made, say, six months before an election ought to be illegal in Ghana if the country is to have fair elections every four years.

Naturally, it is too late for the elections this year, but it might be used in 2028. Should prophets indeed possess divine hearing, they ought to inquire from God about ways to enhance Ghana’s economy. God knows—pardon the sacrilege—that Ghana’s economy is in a terrible place and could use some divine direction.

At the end of the day, Ghanaians should have the freedom to choose how to cast their votes without worrying about what their decisions will be viewed by God.

The writer is Emeritus Professor of Politics, London Metropolitan University, UK