Belated Counseling

Dr. Fred Deegbe

The Christian Council of Ghana, a couple of days ago, issued a belated response to the hate speeches and actions of some politicians in the country. After expecting such an intervention to no avail when Nii Lante Vanderpuye was virtually on rampage, many wondered whether the council would ever talk. Eventually when such an intervention came, lamely and belatedly, many showed wry smiles.

Dr. Fred Deegbe has become synonymous with the council of Christian churches- an organization which should ordinarily command an all-pervading reverence.

Something about how the clergyman manages matters pertaining to politics has left many Ghanaians feeling that his inclination towards a certain political grouping is preventing him from applying the sledgehammer at his disposal, as a man of God, where necessary.

The Catholic Bishops Conference has already made its mark, contributing immensely towards where we have reached today in politics, at a great cost, having been insulted variously by NDC elements over the years.

Its position that there should be verification of voters on Election Day attracted condemnation from the NDC; the Christian Council of Ghana under Dr. Deegbe dares not tread that path.

Holding the position that he does, Dr. Deegbe's political inclination should, like others holding such an important position, be veneered with the greatest touch of subtlety. Unfortunately, he has failed to achieve this feat much to the detriment of his clout as General Secretary of the Council.

When Nii Lante Vanderpuye was literally hopping from place to place in the Ododiodoo constituency and stopping people with Akan-sounding names from registering in the ongoing biometric registration, no word came from the clergyman. The nonsense persisted for a long time, raising the political temperature of the country.

When Hon Kennedy Ohene Agyapong took the stage, as it were, the Dr. Fred Deegbe-led Christian Council of Ghana jumped into the fray with a catalogue of admonitions so it would not be rendered irrelevant.

In matters of this nature, we do not expect bodies like the Christian Council of Ghana to offer such superficial treatment as contained in the communiqué distributed to the media.

The diplomacy which he sought to employ in presenting the issue is, for us, hypocritical because it avoids the source of the political malaise.

Where was the Christian Council of Ghana when some NPP supporters were attacked under the auspices of Nii Lante Vanderpuye?

We were all in Ghana when hoodlums on the payroll of Nii Lante Vanderpuye assaulted Ursula Owusu and proceeded to loot cutlasses and other implements at Kantamanto with which they marched brazenly through the principal streets of Accra central as if Ghana had become a failed state.

The dangerous speeches from Nii Lante did not also prompt any action from the Christian Council of Ghana. Indeed, we have observed a worrying trend in the operations of this Christian body and until it takes another look at how it deals with national issues, it would find it very difficult to recover its lost reverence.

Let it consider the ways of the Catholic Bishops Conference and be wise and thereby be protective of the interests of its flock by denouncing evil persons in society. May God be with us all.