Pastor Mensa Otabil has said his dad was not a good father.

Using his childhood as an example to teach his congregation about generational leadership and how to break clean from the bad leadership and examples of generations gone by, the founder and general overseer of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) said on Sunday, 12 June 2016, that he determined, as a young man, never to be like his bad father.

“When I was growing up, I didn’t choose my father, my father was a good man in his own way, but he wasn’t a good father, he wasn’t good, and it’s not nice to say your father wasn’t a good father because all of us want to be proud saying: ‘My father was the own who brought this to Ghana, my father was the one …’, but he wasn’t, he didn’t treat his wife well – my mother,” Dr Otabil said.

“And I determined when I was young, as a very young Christian, I said: ‘I’m never going to be like this man. I honour him as my father but I’m not going to be like him, I’m never going to emulate his example, I’m not going to admire his example, I’m not going to accept his example and when I marry, I will be different and when I have children, I will be different’” he recounted.

According to Dr Otabil, it is very important for the young generation not to accept generational tags, restrictions and perceptions imposed on them by their families and circumstances, if they are to become generational leaders, who can engender change, positively, by doing things differently.

He said generational leadership was as important for nations just as it was for families and groups at all levels.