The elections in Ghana are over, we now have a president and members of parliament elect awaiting to officially be sworn into office.
However, just as there is always an aftermath of every storm, in the same way, the election has created an aftermath in the kingdom of the Christian God.
Christians believe there is only one God who is not double-minded but the God of truth. However, the revelations and prophesies from his messengers to the people of Ghana about the winner of the elections appear to show otherwise.
There is one God, but different revelations and prophesies about the one he had chosen to lead Ghana. That means He is a double minded God who is dividing his own kingdom by giving conflicting messages to his children. Therefore, as it stands, God has a serious explanation to make to the prophets and men of God that he had revealed Bawumia to as his chosen one.
The above is the controversy that human beings under the garments of religion drag God into.
Without a doubt, if there is any group of people that are defying the biblical commandment, “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain’, then that is Ghanaians in particular and Africans in general. This attitude of mind is prevalent in all areas of African lives but endemic, particularly in politics. The culprits are the religious leaders and the politicians.
The meaning of the commandment is that do not under any circumstance associate the name of God with anything that will bring the name of God in disrepute.
The fact is, for the sanctity and reputation of the positions they hold, our kings and political leaders do not want their names or their offices to be associated with anything that will bring their positions and reputations into disrepute. However, whenever it comes to God, this rule does not apply.
The interesting thing is that, in Ghana in particular and Africa in general religious leaders and politicians are those who are quick to associate the outcome of political elections with God. There are those who claim to have received revelations about the winners of elections and those who ordain the elected leaders as the chosen ones by God.
The fact is, these revelations can only be true if God reveals the solutions to the challenges facing the nation as well. The fact that none of the revelations has ever come with solutions to the challenges that the revealed leaders are supposed to address means such revelations are the imaginations of those receiving them. God does not do things by halves and for that matter, the God that reveals the leader must reveal the solutions to the nation’s challenges too.
On the surface and from the religious point of view, there is nothing wrong with this practice but on principle and truth, it is bringing the name of God into disrepute. If God chooses the winner of the elections and the person goes on to perform woefully, the implication is that it is God who has made a wrong choice and is therefore responsible for the failures of the leader.
It is for this reason that God granted humanity the right of free will, per this arrangement, we will exercise our free will and at the same time take accountability and responsibility for our choices. If God is to make choices for us both at the individual and collective levels, then he takes away our right to free will.
There are reasons for the separation of politics and religion by the propounders of our modern democracy and its multi-party system. One of the reasons is that elections are human choices based on the ideas sold by those seeking to come to power. The choices are made and whenever it turns out to be the right choice we reward the leaders and their political party another term for their good work. However, if it turns out to be a bad choice, we correct ourselves by voting them out. This is purely the act of man, not God.
In the process, no one needs prayers of any kind to feel the effects of the policies of the government on his or her life. In the same way, no one has ever fasted or sought prophesy or revelation from God to know whether the government is doing well or not. This is done through the power of human reasoning based on the performance of the government and by this power, we make our choices.
It is because of this reason that we see people in different religions voting for candidates who they don’t share the same beliefs with. A typical example is the case of the flagbearer of the NPP Dr. Bawumia a Muslim leading both Christians and Muslims in the party. Their choices are simply non-religious but economic and social. Therefore, to overlook this fact and declare a person who was elected after campaigning as the choice of God but not the people is a very sad mistake.
The sitting but outgoing President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo upon winning the election eight years ago declared that he had pledged to build a cathedral for God for choosing him as the president of Ghana. In pursuit of his dream, the clergy community in Ghana embraced the idea since they believed he was chosen by God. The fate of the cathedral and all that accompanied it should tell you that God had no hand in it except for the president exercising his free will to choose.
If our memories will serve us well. Or better stated, let us go back into the achieves and we will discover messages by Ghanaians declaring Nana Akuffo Addo as the choice of God eight years ago. John Mahama the then president on the other hand was abandoned by Ghanaians for committing the same crime that Nana Akufo-Addo is being accused of now. That is being incompetent and causing hardship.
The question we ought to ask ourselves is if the performance of John Mahama eight years ago was so bad for him to be voted out. Was the hardship the act of God or the effect of John Mahama’s incompetence as the outcome of the choice of the people of Ghana?
Similarly, if the performance of Nana Akufo-Addo, the outgoing president of Ghana has caused so much pain to the people of Ghana to the extent that they have rejected the candidate that he had endorsed and campaigned for. Is his incompetence and the hardships that follow the act of God?
The above paints only one picture which is, that the God that chose both leaders as it was and is now being projected is a false God. That God is a myopic God that cannot discern into the future to know what is going to happen in the future. That defeats the attribute of God as the “All-knowing God”. The truth is that what God has chosen cannot turn out to be a pain to the people.
If God was the one that chose Nana Akufo-Addo but today, he is being vilified for causing hardship on Ghanaians then God is the cause of the hardship. This is how human beings abuse the name of God for their gains and to avoid taking responsibility and accountability.
We see this attitude of mind in the life of Africans in all areas of life, the habit of failing to take accountability and responsibility for our choices. It is a common practice in Africa that a person who deliberately engages in fornication and enjoys the act turns around to blame the devil for the consequences that follow. A person who consciously and deliberately indulges in substances and enjoys them will not take accountability and responsibility for his or her choices but will turn around to blame the devil for his or her addictions.
The fact is, the state of the Ghanaian economy and other factors over the years painted an unambiguous picture that the NPP was going to lose the 2024 elections. In the same vein, the very reason also painted an unambiguous image that the NDC was going to win the election. This is the effect of our choices based on the free will given to us by God.
Therefore, any man or woman who never saw these pictures or deliberately overlooked these pictures but resorted to prophesies and messages of religious undertones was living on a false belief and perspective. That also projects the person as disrespecting the intelligence of the people of Ghana and using the name of God in vain.
The outcome of the election was determined by the people but not by God. It is therefore delusional to believe that it was God who had chosen John Mahama as the new president of Ghana or any president in the history of any given nation. God never make choices for us but gives us the free will to choose. The fact about our free will is that since we are those that make the choices, we must take responsibility and accountability for our choices.
The truth is, electoral processes are organized based on human choices and for that matter whenever we make our choices let us take accountability and responsibility for the outcome. We can only thank God for giving us the freedom to choose and then learn from our mistakes for growth or evolution.
