Rt.Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana who doubles as the Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana, has said that his duty as holder of such two vital positions is to support ruling governments and not parties in opposition.
He was reacting to critics who say the clergy has been quiet while economic mismanagement, corruption, hardship, human rights violations, among other things, have increased under the current NPP government, while they were vocal during the erstwhile Mahama-led NDC government.
Speaking on Friday, June 17, 2022 during the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of Abetifi Presbyterian College of Education (ABETICOE), the man of God said such accusations against the clergy are misplaced.
“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,” he said, as quoted by starrfm.com.gh.
In an earlier interview with the media in Koforidua, his colleague, the General Superintendent of Assemblies of God Church Ghana, Rev. Prof. Paul Frimpong Manso, called on the clergy to speak up against the wrongs that are going on in the country.
In his view, God deliberately established the clergy to be the voice of the voiceless, so their silence will be a disservice to the poor Ghanaians who suffer the most if politicians go wayward.
He acknowledged the fact that some men of God suffer victimization and name-calling when they voice their opinions, hence the inertia lately.
“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 conscience of the nation ,we are to speak for the voiceless,” Rev. Frimpong Manso said.
Recently, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, Ghana, Very Rev. Prof.Emmanuel Martey, made news headlines after he revealed why some men of God, including himself, appear to have gone quiet.
He cited fear of insults and bribery, among other things, that sometimes make it difficult for clergymen to speak against wrongs, mismanagement, corruption, human rights abuses, and so on by the government in power and its officials.
“Many clergy are afraid of insults. Look, Ghanaians can insult very well.Prophetic utterances from the throne of God condemning evil ,regardlessly ,bring judgement upon wrong doers 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,” Rev. Martey said.
“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”.
Rev. Martey also explained why he personally has not been heard speaking publicly on national issues but rather chose to adopt text messaging to address some of the issues with the relevant people.
He said that it would be a breach of the constitution of the Presbyterian Church for him to continue speaking when he is no longer the moderator.
He added that it is only the moderator who is mandated to speak on behalf of the church.