In times of hardship, it is no surprise when people throw in the towel on their faith.
In typical Ghanaian fashion, however, religion was put on display by Members of Parliament on Thursday, February 16, 2023, when they took turns to react to statements by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, on government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme when he appeared before them in (DDEP).
While it is custom for the Hon. Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin to set the tone of the house with a prayer; it was the opening remarks of the finance minister that set the ball rolling— when he told the house, “I come in peace,” and then proceeded to quote a scripture from Psalm 105:
“If I look at Psalm 105, it says ‘let’s give thanks and notes that we should rejoice with the Lord and make his great deeds known among people. So, we thank God, Mr Speaker for today and how far the Lord has brought us.”
Clearly, his extracts from scriptures did not land well with some members of the house, who countered with Bible verses of their own when it was their turn to make comments on the statement presented by the minister.
Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central MP, Isaac Adongo, blatantly accused the finance minister of his ‘misuse’ of Bible verses, adding that, he [Ofori-Atta] was the reason people like him [Isaac Adongo] no longer attended church.
“…We are here with this boring and underwhelming statement. Mr. Speaker we are not angry enough. As a country, we are not angry enough. This cannot happen to anybody, and yet you’re wasting our money, you’re taking our money and you’re here reading this boring statement to us,” Hon. Adogo lashed out.
He continued, “Mr. Speaker this is not a joke. And you’re even quoting the Bible; which of the Bibles are you quoting. Quoting the Bible and taking our money. In making us poor, in denying the poor pensioner his money and you still are quoting the Bible. It is the reason some of us don’t go to church, because in the end this is what we get,” he said.
But quite expectedly, Member of Parliament for Nhyiaeso, Stephen Amoah, came to the defense of the finance minister with a scripture of his own “If the minister says we should give thanks to God, it doesn’t mean he is happy with the situation. 1 Thessalonians 15,16 to 18, the Bible states, emphatically without any ambiguity that in all circumstances, we should give thanks to God and that is the will of God for his children.”
He looked up and served words of assurance to some members of the pensioner bondholders association of Ghana, who were present in parliament that day, “So, our fathers and mothers, it is not that the finance minister is happy about what is happening, but the finance minister believes in God. We all believe in God and God says that whether we are going through pain or pleasure, we should give thanks to God.
However, Member of Parliament for Asunafo South, Eric Opoku, didn’t let the words of comfort settle for long; he was quick to counter with a Bible verse from 1Kings 12:6:
“Mr. Speaker, typical of the finance minister he began the statement with a quotation from the Bible. And I will like to do the same thing. Mr Speaker, 1Kings chapter 12 verse 6, Solomon ones sought the expertise of old men, who helped him make important decisions about the kingdom of Israel. but Mr. speaker, he did not touch the livelihoods of these old men… he sought their expertise, never touched the livelihood of these people,” he emphasized, making room for North Tongo Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, to come in with the big one:
“Mr Speaker what is even so obnoxious and irritating is the minister’s opening remarks that this is the time to rejoice in the Lord. Jesus Christ of Nazareth! The minister forgets that in Proverbs 29:2, the Bible says that when the wicked rules the people mourn, the people groan, there is pain. There is pain and anxiety when the wicked rule,” he said.
He added, “This is no time to rejoice. If the minister is still rejoicing, then our problems are bigger than I ever imagine. Because it tells us that the president, his vice president, his finance minister, they are in a buddle, they are totally out of touch. They are in a world of their own and they are still in a rejoicing mood.”
He lamented about current languishing state of the country’s economy, “… Ghana used to be the poster child of economic growth, of democratic stability. This was a country that other African countries were asked to emulate. Today, all of those gains have been eroded. We are at the precipice, we are on the brink of economic catastrophe, of Armageddon, of a cataclysmic economic disaster because of a finance minister who has betrayed the trust of the Ghanaian people”.
From one scripture to another, it is significantly clear that religion is not taken out whenever the Finance Minister particularly is in the picture but the question is whether that really translates into the making of decisions in the interest of Ghanaians.
You can also watch this episode of People & Places on GhanaWeb TV below:
PI/WA
Members of Parliament in the House