By Charles Chindove
One of the lingering threats to the nation’s democracy is not the military, which has been somewhat sidelined and weakened. The real danger to our systems of governance comes from an emerging group of pastors who are obsessed with their titles, such as Archbishop, Doctor, Professor, Man of God, and Prophet. These individuals claim to have unfettered access to God and suggest that they communicate with Him daily to influence national affairs. The excessive praise given to the nation’s pastors, often referred to as corporate clergy, by our politicians—both men and women who often display signs of questionable integrity and past criminal behaviour—is a troubling trend.
Karl Marx famously described religion as the “opium of the people,” not merely because religion provided comfort to suffering populations, but because it could function as an ideological instrument that pacified populations while obscuring the material conditions responsible for their exploitation. The contemporary relationship between sections of the political class and corporate clergy increasingly reflects this dynamic.
At a time when many developed countries have chosen pragmatic policies and developmental initiatives, our politicians seem more focused on wining and dining insincere pastors to secure electoral victories and prolong their time in power, all to further exploit the nation and enrich their friends and family. By fostering a culture of superstitions, the current brand of leaders, particularly politicians, have shown that they are unprepared to lead the nation towards its developmental goals. These goals include job creation, twenty-first-century education and healthcare, comprehensive security, combating pervasive corruption, halting the exploitation and degradation of the environment, and developing transportation networks to stimulate economic growth.
Many pastors in the nation today seem more focused on delivering elaborate recitations of Bible verses and collecting offerings and tithes, often exploiting their congregations, than on truly preaching the word of God. These pastors frequently act as influential figures in national elections, largely due to the size of their congregations, which politicians often visit to secure votes. Unfortunately, many of these politicians, whom I have come to distrust based on their private dealings, become complicit in the harm these pastors inflict on our nation.
To build and expand their congregations, these pastors preach in English, a language in which they have a limited vocabulary. They associate the ability to speak English with being educated. Rather than embracing modesty and propriety, they speak loudly, which the congregation often mistakes for the presence of the spirit of God. These pastors have a taste for high-end fashion and invest significantly in their appearance, while the congregation, who struggles to make ends meet, wonders where their family’s next meal will come from, not to mention other financial commitments. This reflects the unfortunate state of the nation, a society that seeks solutions through elusive miracles, thus wasting human potential.
The absurdity of this political-religious alliance becomes even more apparent when certain pastors publicly claim to possess divine powers capable of influencing the appreciation of the American dollar, only to receive applause from highly compliant congregations conditioned to confuse spectacle with substance. They gather at the country’s largest hydroelectric dam at Akosombo to pray for rain and visit illegal mining sites, where forests have been destroyed and water bodies polluted, seeking divine intervention. Meanwhile, some incompetent government officials, who are supposed to address the nation’s problems, nod in agreement like bobbleheads.
The Bible passage “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3) has been reinterpreted as “Blessed are the rich, for their wealth is a blessing from God and a sign of His approval of their work.” Some pastors, who were once considered miscreants and even confessed to being “armed robbers,” are now viewed by their congregations as sources of wise counsel. In addition to their pastoral duties, some have taken on roles such as gynecologists or spiritual advisors, offering services to hunt for witches in the families of congregation members.
These services come at a high cost, with rich members—especially in America and Europe—being asked to pay in foreign currencies. Initially, these pastors treated issues like barrenness as spiritual problems to instill fear in church members and prevent them from discussing their struggles openly. However, after years of enduring this abuse, wealthy individuals are now being advised by their pastors to seek medical treatment in countries like Turkey and India.
The enormous allocation of public resources toward the construction of the National Cathedral under Nana Akufo-Addo’s administration represented not merely fiscal irresponsibility, but a profoundly misguided exercise in political symbolism designed to reward politically connected religious elites at the expense of urgent national developmental priorities. While religious faith is a personal matter, the cathedral’s construction was pushed by a group of clergy as a reward for their influence in getting their congregations to vote for the National Patriotic Party. Additionally, had the Nana Akufo-Addo government completed the project, it would have likely gained favour with national religious leaders and the pastors they influence. President John Dramani Mahama is not much different in his approach to church politics, as evidenced by his kneeling to be prayed over by pastors in the months leading up to the 2024 elections.
The past and present governments share responsibility for the charlatanism and zealotry seen in the nation’s churches. Their failure to hold pastors accountable and to limit their influence on policy has undermined the country’s future. By allowing themselves to be swayed by these religious leaders, politicians have mistakenly believed that the nation’s salvation and progress depend on God working through these human representatives. Their repeated insistence that “God’s time is the best” has only secured temporary victories, enabling complacent leadership that squanders a four-year mandate while leading a population dependent on handouts and patronage.
As an educated pessimist, my hope for the nation continues to diminish. I have come to believe that the current leaders lack the honesty, hard work, and commitment necessary to effectively govern. In a nation where campaign songs are regarded as equivalent to effective policies, and where dances to these songs symbolize hope for what could be if a particular party comes to power, we have lost our sense of direction. The disarray within the nation and the false hopes perpetuated by pastors are reminiscent of stage four terminal cancer. In this analogy, the nation itself is the patient, destined to fail, no matter how optimistic the populace might feel about recovery. The country and its people have become a lost cause in desperate need of genuine leadership. Unfortunately, I cannot say where these leaders will come from to reverse the current tide of chaos, exploitation, and underdevelopment.
