Former President John Dramani Mahama has urged churches to talk about the problems Ghanaians are currently having with their economy.
He took a subtle dig at Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Martey, the former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, who has always criticised the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government but has stopped now that Akufo-Addo is in charge.
In October 2014, when Mr Mahama was president, Professor Martey said Ghana needed wise men to lead the country to save it from the many problems it was facing.
He said this when the Kwadaso Trinity Congregation in Kumasi laid the first stone of their new church building and dedicated it.
"The biblical cliché that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom must be told to us as if it were true. "To lead this country, we must be wise," he said.
"Anyansafuoeii mo wo hin?" He asked, "Where are the wise?"
Speaking at the induction ceremony of the founder of Cedar Mountain Chapel, Rev. Stephen Wengam, as General Superintendent in Accra on Saturday, 25 February 2023, John Mahama urged churches and religious leaders to speak out regardless of which political party is in power.
He said: "The church doesn't just exist to pray for leaders; it also exists to give leaders suggestions and advice. After all, the church doesn't hang in the sky; it is part of society and everything that happens in society affects the church".
"The economic crisis we're in at the moment affects our congregation, so it's important for the church to speak out when it thinks something is wrong.”
He continued: "I think this should happen no matter which government is in power. We need to be seen as fair and not biased. We can't say 'Anyansafuoeii mo wo hin' in one government and be quiet in another.”
"We should always tell the truth to whoever is in charge, because it affects the life of our community, and Christians shouldn't be afraid to get involved in politics.”
"I said that the wise pay the price of being ruled by the fools if they don't get involved in politics, so Christians should not stay away from politics".
Prof Martey said he now talks to people about important national issues through text messages and other means.
Speaking at a public lecture in Koforidua on Tuesday, 25 May 2022, he said, "Rev. Prof. Martey is still speaking, but his style has changed.”
“Those I need to speak to are the ones I am speaking to. I have helped a lot of people, sometimes through text messages, and a lot of things have changed because of that. So I'm still talking.”
He also said that the Presbyterian Church's constitution says that only the serving moderators are allowed to speak on behalf of the church on national issues.
"You know the revelations, practices and procedures of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. The spirit of our constitution says that the Presbyterian Church of Ghana has only one person who can speak for the church and that person is the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, not a former Moderator but a serving Moderator.”
"In the church, leadership is like a relay race. When the baton is passed to you, you run as fast as you can, and when you get to the next person, you pass the baton to them and stop running. "Anyone who passes the baton to someone else and keeps on running is crazy," he said.