By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor

Friday, February 8, 2013

The Founder and leader of Glorious Word Ministry International, Rev. Isaac Owusu Bempah, is in the news again for the wrong reason. He is reported to have predicted that President Mahama will die this year unless he and his advisers take steps to reverse it.

Making matters worse, he didn’t tell us what specific “steps” they should take. This is the annoying deception that charlatans of Owusu Bempah’s ilk spring on us. They make such issues open-ended, leaving it to chance in the hope that if anything happens to fit into their agenda, they will quickly turn round to claim undue credit for it.

Here is another strategy, which is time-based. Owusu Bempah timed his so-called prophecy for the night of “December 31, 2012,” (Watch Night), the point at which the old year yields to the new and people become fixated on resolutions and fervent appeals to the transcendental. So, Owusu Bempah wanted us to believe that his prophesy was inspired by the sanctity of that moment. Announcing it at the church’s end-of-year service was calculated to give it that divine touch.
That he is now telling us this prophecy, having already established himself as the ventriloquist for the NPP’s defeated Akufo-Addo—and knowing his earlier empty threats and useless prediction of an Akufo-Addo victory at the 2012 polls—is characteristic of the charlatan that this Owusu Bempah is.
There is only one factor motivating this impish “Man-of-God.” He is peeved that he can’t have audience with President Mahama to do to him what he has done to others. His own words betray him. He “bemoaned his inability to meet the President and inform him about the dark cloud hanging over his head and the necessary steps to be taken to avert the looming disaster.”
What does this charlatan take President Mahama for? Does he think that just because he has founded a church and thrust upon himself the title of a “Reverend,” he is more spiritual than President Mahama and must, therefore, be given the free hand to fortify him in life and in office as the President of Ghana?
There is more drivel from him, though: “I have not been able to meet the President and inform him. A similar thing happened when I prophesied about the late President Mills, but they turned me away.”
And for not getting that chance, he must predict the President’s death? Blackmailing the President? For how long must we allow such so-called “Men-of-God” to hold us to ransom with their run-away self-serving prophecies?
The news reports have it that Owusu Bempah “was at pains to stress, however, that the impending calamity could be averted if the entire nation but especially the President sought God’s help through prayer. Members of the Glorious Word Ministry International had already embarked on a fasting and prayer session.”
Hogwash. Complete malarkey. This flight into fantasy won’t scare anybody. No amount of sniveling will get him close to President Mahama. If he has spiritual powers to avert death, he should use them to protect himself. President Mahama is a mortal being who is just passing through this world. He knows it and won’t seek any intercession from a charlatan like this Owusu Bempah.
The real motive of this Owusu Bempah is belied by all the nonsense that he has spewed out to date concerning the political situation in the country. Was he not the one who predicted that Akufo-Addo would win the elections “one touch” and that if not, the country would be thrown into chaos? Has that happened?
And do you know why Owusu Bempah is fixated on Akufo-Addo this way? My information has it that Akufo-Addo had given him $2.4 million to be forwarded to Nana Konadu for funding the NDP’s politicking, which he pocketed. And for fear of being taken on by Akufo-Addo, he has resorted to licking his boots (or arse) to this extent. I haven’t yet cross-checked this hint, but I may be tempted by Owusu Bempah’s posture and utterances to believe it—just as he wants us to believe his prophesy, not so?
Those believing him for what he is are doing so at their own volition, knowing why. Those crediting him with prophesying the death in 2012 of the ex-President Mills and former Vice President Aliu Mahama as well as a plane crash on December 31, 2011, have too much time and too little to do. Or have allowed themselves to be colonized by such a charlatan.
Here is more garbage from him to the effect that the NPP will win its petition at the Supreme Court. Then, not too long after Akufo-Addo is sworn in as President, a senior member of the NPP who has held a national leadership position will pass away. A prophet of doom at his best!!
The liar that he is, he can’t even be bold enough to say one thing and stand by it but must turn round to indulge in equivocation. Listen to him: “It is not a done deal however.” That was why he called on the 9 Supreme court judges presiding over the NPP’s petition to be “bold and be true to the facts and evidence provided by the petitioners and respondents.”
So, how does he push his agenda? More equivocation: “I am pleading with the judges to be bold and speak the truth in their ruling; they hold the destiny of Ghana in their hands. They should remember they will also be judged by the Almighty when they die and if they give a false ruling they will account for it before their maker.”
His apprehension (“If we are not careful, there will be trouble in Ghana after the judgment, unless we pray”) is as useless as his flight into the transcendental. Let me tell him straight to his face that Ghana will remain stable, peaceful, and tranquil, no matter what he does overtime to imagine. Anybody planning any mischief will be identified and snuffed out before he puts his plan into action.
Characters of this Owusu Bempah’s type give credence to the negative impressions that some of us have about the church and its founders and leaders, not to mention the followers, who continue to give us cause for concern.
I want President Mahama to have faith in the God who has put him where he is and count on his providence. All those seeking to grab his attention with their prophecies should be ignored to see what happens. He will do better outside the company of those prophets of doom. And we will also be on the quivive to smoke them out if they dare enter our private space. How many of them won’t die, anyway?
I challenge Owusu Bempah and all those noisy “Men-of-God” to use their powers—if they have any at all—to come out with prophecies that will help us solve the country’s problems. Instead of indulging in this high degree of stupidity, they should make positive contributions to national life.
The time has come for Ghanaians to take prompt action against such charlatans. They are part of the serious problems responsible for the immorality plaguing our society and must be flushed out before they cause further harm.
I shall return…
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