The alarming rate at which Ghanaians are succumbing to death is quite scary. In my quiet moment three days ago, on Saturday 20 September 2014, when dozing off, I could hear an inner voice dictating to me. It informed me of the sources or causes of the rampant deaths among Ghanaians that were very unusual to the society many years ago. With awareness of the causes, Ghanaians may take some preventive or precautionary measures to stem that frightful rate of death among them.

Among the causes revealed to me are: Lorry accidents brought about by careless drivers who do not in a sense value the lives of their passengers. They overtake rival vehicles at times and points they should not. Due to negligence on their part, they often drive head-on into incoming vehicles. Drivers who are exhausted, but are still at the wheels, and over-speeding on the roads, cause unnecessary motor accidents. Human attitude is more of the cause of lorry accidents than mechanical faults.

2. Over-application of insecticides and weedicides to our food production. When these products find themselves into our farm produce at the quantity at which Ghanaian young farmers are applying them, it gives rise to cancer in our human bodies when the food is consumed. Pure green tomato fruits can be caused to ripen and harvested within three hours by the current young Ghanaian farmers by applying excessive chemicals to them. Farm Extension Officers should retrain the young farmers on the best practice of using the chemicals.

3. Saturation of herbal medicines on the Ghanaian market coupled with their wrong usage. Many quack herbal doctors and fake herbal drugs, locally manufactured or imported, abound in Ghana. They cause death. Illnesses that are to be treated with conventional drugs are now being administered with untested herbs. Treating illnesses like hypertension, diabetes, cancer etc. with herbal drugs do kill Ghanaians. Such diseases are to be treated by qualified medical doctors (in clinics and hospitals).

4. Alcoholism – many Ghanaians abuse drinks. They drink alcohol on empty stomach. Most of them feel they should have a great amount of alcohol (akpeteshie or palm wine etc.) in their body everyday of the week. Overuse of alcohol causes ulcers, cancer, vital organ failures etc. in the human body. The end result is death.

5. Fellow Ghanaians pursue quick buck through what in the local Ghanaian parlance is “Sikaduro”. Are people not killed through many foul means because somebody has an evil intention to get richer overnight? In many instances, those sacrificed for that evil cause and the authors of such killings all end up dying prematurely.

6. People resorting to “juju”, but actually poison, to kill their fellow Ghanaians. Such actions originate from litigations, pure enviousness, enmity, and a host of other silly reasons.

I had extensively dealt with the causes of the many deaths among Ghanaians in my previous publications. However, I am obliged to highlight them due to the requirement of the inner voice.

I am going to discuss how false fetish priests and false Christian prophets contribute to the deaths being witnessed or suffered by Ghanaians. When someone falls sick, instead of their relatives taking them to the hospital, some often end up at fetish shrines. The fetish priest may claim the patient or the witch has been struck down spiritually by his fetish. However, the victim or patient may be suffering from real illness that requires medical attention. The patient may be suffering from say, a distended stomach and swollen feet. These are normally the signs of kidney failure in the person; yet, the fake fetish will let people believe the person (patient or victim) has spiritually been arrested for being a witch or a wizard.

The person may eventually die from their illness but the fetish will claim to have killed them because they refused to disclose everything about their witchery; the entirety about their committed evil deeds. Before their death, their relatives will have been required to pay some money, sacrificed some sheep etc. in an attempt to appease the gods to reverse the curse or the calamitous illness that has befallen the supposedly stricken person.

People must always explore and exhaust all conventional medical avenues prior to taking their relatives to the fetish shrines for assistance. “Bosom ye nndaadaa” (fetish deceives), so the Akan says. Do not be fooled by them. I have many instances to cite where people have died or suffered disability because of these fetishes or fetish priests (akomfo3). Does it ring a bell, people saying, a powerful fetish priest is the one that has got an intelligent linguist.

Finally, some rogues calling themselves prophets (men of God), behave similarly as the fake fetish priests to cause the undesirable intensification of otherwise preventable illnesses or deaths among Ghanaians. They may claim patients brought before them are victims of witchcraft whom they will be able to heal through intercessory prayers. They may use olive oil (anointed oil), holy water and prayers in attempts to cure the patients. Instead of sending the patient to the hospital, these prophets claim to miraculous powers will rekindle false hopes in patients and their family until the patient dies. When the patient does die, they then console the bereaved family with the biblical phrase, “God knows what is best and does it in His own time. He gives, and He takes away”

People are always to combine conventional drugs, medical assistance with whatever is promised to them by prophets and fetish priests. This will help to reduce the many on-going deaths among Ghanaians.

I may write in detail about the contribution to the many deaths tormenting Ghanaians, citing known and rumoured instances in my future write-up. I have to help educate Ghanaians who oftentimes become victims to charlatans and their own ignorance.

As the inner voice directed, so have I done, although, not fully concluded. I shall be back to discuss them with additions in future.

I dedicate this publication to all Ghanaians in the hope of extricating those imbued with fetishism and insane obedience to whatever a pastor or prophet tells them, from such beliefs.

Rockson Adofo