Former flagbearer Aspirant Dr Arthur Kobina Kennedy has said Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams’ cedi prayer critics are wrong. He imputes that their action smacks of hypocrisy.
“…It is astonishing that we would deride prayers when even in the last elections, God seemed so central”.
He said: “Whether they were genuine or not, our two major parties both acknowledged the centrality of God. One candidate claimed that: ‘The battle is the Lord’s’ while the other asserted that: “Nyame na osi hene”, meaning “God chooses leaders”.
According to him, “Indeed, even our national anthem sounds like a prayer”.
“God bless our homeland Ghana” – “Aside from these obvious confessions of God’s omnipotence, I believe that we Ghanaians must realise that we have a special place in God’s universe and that we are a chosen nation”, Dr Kennedy asserted in an article titled “faith and Ghana”.
The article is a subtle defense of Archbishop Duncan-Williams’ prayer for the local cedi to rise in value against the dollar and other major international currencies.
Critics took the Christian Action Faith Ministries’ Founder and General Overseer to the cleaners after his prayer.
Former head of the policy monitoring and evaluation unit at the presidency and Ambassador-Designate, Dr Tony Aidoo, described the prayer as “comic relief”.
Dr. Kennedy, however, pointed out that: “Indeed, what the Archbishop was doing, in addition to praying, was drawing our attention to the ‘God factor’ in the life of nations and people. As he pointed out, the Americans proudly have on their currency the phrase, ‘In God we trust’”.
In his view, “the prayer and the derisive condemnation raise the question of whether prayers and faith have any role at all in a nation’s nation’s economic and political life. On this, those intellectuals deriding the man of God are wrong”.
He explained that: “First, faith and prayers are an important part of the life of many great nations. America’s declaration of independence and its life is littered with references to God and prayer. Indeed, once a year, the US President organises a ‘National Prayer Breakfast’, during which prayers are offered to ask for God’s blessings for America. Actually, many believe that the reason the former Soviet Union collapsed of its own weight was because it did not acknowledge God”.
“Second, many individuals, myself included, acknowledge the centrality of Allah and faith in life. I cannot recall taking any exam or meeting any difficulty without asking God’s blessing. Indeed, I and many Ghanaians would feel very reassured to know that our President would pray before making important decisions”, he added.