The Presiding Archbishop and General Overseer of Christian Action Faith Ministries (CAFM), headquartered in Accra, Ghana, Nicholas Duncan-Williams, has commended the decision by the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) to resort to the Supreme Court to challenge the 2012 presidential election results rather than bay for blood by inciting supporters to flood the streets with mayhem.
Citing the 2007 bloody post-election conflict that claimed about 1,300 lives and displaced over 600,000 people in Kenya as well as that of the Ivory Coast in 2011 which claimed 3,000 lives and displaced over 5000 people, Archbishop Duncan-Williams said it was commendable Ghana did not follow those examples.
As far as the 2012 presidential election dispute in Ghana is concerned, Archbishop Duncan-Williams said: ‘Instead of us taking arms and killing one another, the opposition decided to go to the Supreme Court.’
He added that ‘even though litigation is stressful and creates anxiety and [brings about]…uncertainty, it is a better option than us taking arms and killing one another and shedding innocent blood on the streets of Ghana.’
He said: ‘…For that, this thanksgiving is so necessary for You and I to give thanks that we are still a nation and a people even though we have challenges and difficulties.’
Archbishop Duncan-Williams expressed those sentiments when he preached at this year’s National Prayer and Thanksgiving Service at the Independence Square on Sunday in Accra.
He also said Ghana risks plunging itself into a dangerous realm if tribal and ethnic tensions are ignored rather than dealt with.
He further bemoaned what he described as divisions among the Clergy and the Church in Ghana, saying all such divisions could conspire to undo the country.
‘The religious sentiments and divisions among us are very scary because even the Churches are being divided in this country; there are men of God who are praying for, and men of God who are praying against.’
‘It is too dangerous for some to be praying for and some to be against.’
He said: ‘Praying for those in authority…the Government in office, does not make us a particular political party follower.’
‘It is our God-given mandatory command and charge from Elohim to intercede for everyone in authority,’ Archbishop Duncan-Williams stressed.
He also called for political unity and said: ‘the culture and vicious cycle of the winner takes-it-all must be broken.’
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