Opinions of Sunday, 3 January 2021

Columnist: Peter Antwi Boasiako

New parliament must quickly enact new law to curb the mind-torturing calamitous prophecies

File photo of the Holy Bible File photo of the Holy Bible

Immediately the new parliament is sworn-in from January 2021, they must take all the necessary steps to enact a new law stringent enough to restrain anyone in Ghana calling him/herself Prophet, Prophetess, Imam or Pastor, Mallam or Fetish Priest, Spiritualist or Traditional Priest, Man-of-God or whosoever, from taking the liberty in pronouncing death, calamity, incurable sickness, disaster, to befall any Ghanaian citizen (31st December night prophecies), unless the said individual Ghanaian whom the prophecy is about, has actually and voluntarily approached the prophet for spiritual consultation, counselling or attends their church, shrine or mosque; other than that, any such unsolicited public pronouncement of death or calamity against any person or persons in Ghana must be deemed as an abuse of individuals’ human rights, and therefore tantamount to an offence of perpetrating emotional, psychological and mental torture on the person if he or she chooses to file a suit at lawcourt or file a complaint at the nearest police station.

Through they call it spiritual matters and can’t be dealt with in lawcourt, but the fact is, what Ghanaians go through at the end of every year in the hands of these so-called prophets and Mallams aren’t any genuine prophecies but pure perpetration of psychological and mental torture on some innocent Ghanaians. What they call prophecies are typical mental torturing that relies primarily on psychological effects, and only secondarily on any physical harm inflicted which aims at causing one to succumb. Indeed not all psychological torture involves the use of physical violence, however, experts believe there is a continuum between psychological torture and physical torture and that is exactly what Ghanaians get from these prophets every year.

It will continue to get worse if no action is taken as soon as possible to restrain them. That is the only way we can have our peace o mind from these atrocious pronouncements of these ‘prophets’, which they call “31st night prophecies”.

Honestly, it is not only outrageous and unfair to those innocent people they pronounce death on them, but it is also barbaric, wickedness and stupidity to declare anyone as a living-dead and put their loved ones into such psychological trauma.

It appears that, many Ghanaians are failing to understand and appreciate the sudden sensation of fear, confusion and disorientation such pronouncements create in the minds of the friends, family members, loved ones and followers when death and calamities are announced, waiting to happen to the prominent persons they cherish.

This is absolutely unnecessary and simply not right that the so-called prophets should have the freedom to smartly subject innocent people to suffer such mental slavery, by telling them they have few months to live on earth. A bad news that even the Professional Medical Doctors find it extremely difficult to break it to their patients.

A prophet, telling a woman that she will suffer a breast cancer within a year, is the last thing any woman on earth would like to hear. Announcing that a sitting President will die in days before 7th December general election was definitely not a pleasant news that majority of Ghanaians wanted to hear. Telling a Presidential candidate that he will win an election and stressing that it is what God has decreed, and it turns out that he’s actually lost the elections, would not only embolden the recalcitrant nature of that candidate and possibly incite his gullible supporters to think that their votes have been stolen for them to start agitations but to perpetrate violence to satisfy their capricious sense to sympathise with their leader. It is simply not right and must STOP.

How many times haven’t they prophesied there's an imminent death of His Excellency, President Nana Akufo-Addo? How many times haven't they announced impending death of the Ex-First Lady, Mrs Kufuor since 2017? Which year did they say that our Distinguished National Chief Imam would die? Has he died?

Has ShattaWale also died yet and perhaps buried already since they said he would die 3 years ago? They said the highly-loved Ghanaian Musician Daddy Lumber will die 5 years ago. Has he died? In fact, they even said ex-President John Mahama would be killed by his own NDC members in 2019, we are now in 2021. Has he been killed? What kind rubbish are these pronouncements they call prophecies?

In fact, they said the Vice President, Dr Bawumia, the Former President John Mahama and Ex-President John Agyekum Kufuor would all die in 2019, we are in 2021 now, have they died? What is the meaning of all these and why must these be allowed to continue? What are they seeking to get if all these prominent personalities die as they wish them dead? Absolutely mind boggling.

On just past 31st December, some of the new provoking prophecies are that, President Akufo-Addo will actually die again before 7th January and he cannot be sworn-in. How many time would President Akufo-Addo die in his life time? Aabah.

Even they have added that, our Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta too will also die within the next 4 months. In fact, what crime at-all has Ghanaians committed to deserve these absurdities and such atrocious psychological tortures? Why?

Frankly, 2020, what has outraged me the most on this issue today is one prophecy that came on 31st December night, which says our First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, will contract breast cancer before the end of 2021, by one Prophet called Salifu or whatever they call him. What kind of balderdash is that? How can you say this about a woman, announce a breast cancer for a woman, not just an ordinary woman, the first lady of the land, somebody’s mother, somebody’s Auntie, somebody’s grandma? To me, this one is distinctively outrageous and it has upset me to the core.

Something must definitely be done about these senseless pronouncements they call prophecies. In fact, that is even the essence of the law-makers, to pass laws to control burning situations and we expect that, this new parliament would take this matter up and introduce laws that can protect citizens private human rights.

No one, absolutely no one, no Prophet, no Prophetess, no Fetish Priest, no Pastor or Mallam or no whoever, has any right to sentence anybody to death with their spiritual beliefs. It is an abuse of human rights, it creates fear and panic, it is absolutely wrong and it must STOP.

What Ghanaians are ignoring is that, this could also have serious security implications if care is not taken. The unscrupulous people who are scheming to commit crime against certain personalities can easily hide behind or connive with some prophets to declare death on you and once that is in the public domain, they can take the advantage to poison their targeted persons or find some ways to kill them and then brainwash people that it is prophecy that has come to pass because it was said that he would die anyway, to cover their tracks. This is not right.

The earliest we do something swiftly and drastically about this madness perpetrated by these Prophets, the better we can have our peace of mind. Else, their lies and their reckless deceptive prophecies can one day plunge the whole country into regrettable pandemonium.

SOMETHING MUST BE DONE ABOUT THIS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!