Prophets must refrain from creating tension — CCG

The General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG), Rev. Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, has urged prophets and prophetesses to refrain from creating tension, fear and panic with their prophecies on the upcoming election.

He advised them to keep their prophecies to themselves since they had already mounted unreasonable tension in the country ahead of the December 7 polls.

At an inter-faith youth dialogue meeting at Ebenezer Presbyterian church in Accra, Dr Opuni-Frimpong stated, "Prophets are making predictions that party A will win and others will say party B will win, but we should not forget we all have one God.”

He said politicians and their followers were also part of Christian and Islamic congregations who looked up to their leaders for counsel and inspiration so it would be prudent enough to pray from them rather than create public panic.

“Those who are into politics are not strangers to us; they are not outsiders.

“The President and his vice, ministers of state, parliamentarians, party executives and foot soldiers are all members of our churches and mosques, so we cannot behave as though they are some strangers in our midst,” he noted.

To manage fear

Dr Opuni-Frimpong mentioned that politicians resorted to violence and rigging of election for fear of losing their positions.

He cautioned the youth not to be manipulated by politicians to rig election or trigger violence in an attempt to manage their fear of losing election.

"If you give all political parties opportunity to cheat in elections, they will all cheat," he said.

Therefore, he advised religious leaders not to distance themselves from politicians but rather journey with them.

He explained that religious leaders could  journey with politicians by praying with them but not creating so much fear in the country.

Background

The inter-faith dialogue meeting was the product of an initiative by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) to sensitise the society to the need for peace in the run-up to the December 7 General Election.

It has the Christian Council and the office of the National Chief Imam spearheading the campaign to preach peace to members of the society.

The event was attended by members of the clergy, youth leaders in churches, political party representatives, Muslim leaders and traditional rulers.

Some participants asked questions and contributed to the discussion.