Rev. Owusu Bempah, Doom Prophecy, and the Problem of Superstition

Our country has more than a fair share of active believers. What it lacks are active thinkers and problem solvers.

A dangerous trend is beginning to take root in Ghana. It is the practice of doom prophecy, targeting the elites and the powerful. Where it came from? Same place where internet fraud aka Sakawa and Okada originated: Nigeria. The practice survives in very superstitious societies where people would rather believe anything than think one thing.

We’re getting ahead of ourselves; let’s take a U-turn and situate the issue in its proper context.

The year was 2007 and Akosombo dam, Ghana’s main source of electric power, was receding past the minimum threshold, but the government didn’t have a backup plan to the rescue. The president assured staff of Volta River Authority (VRA) that “God will not allow the dam to hang”, implicitly implying that the power problem was indeed spiritual. Not surprisingly, the message was well received by Ghanaians. Many pastors and their followers took to Akosombo, prayed and shed tears for several days. Unfortunately, the tears were not enough to fill the dam—perhaps the entire nation was needed to pull the trick. Today, the power situation is worse but we didn’t pause to ask what became of those productive hours spent praying for some miracle rain.

Then again, the Kotoka International Airport was suffering from years of mismanagement and corruption. Shutdown was imminent. The management of the airport thought the best way to use tax-payers’ money was to fly a certain man of God from abroad to pray for the company. It was hoped that a miracle would follow. It didn’t. The problem persisted.

The media, movie industry and our churches force us to believe that our problems and failures—sicknesses, premature deaths, and unhappiness—are all machinations of some devil and his earthly agents. Witches and wizards are the easy targets. Nevermind that this is happening in the 21st century and at the height of humankind’s civilization. To many Ghanaians, anything that is inexplicable must be spiritual. Thinking and problem solving can’t help spiritual matters. Forget the school and focus on the church. Any wonder that our places of worship are ultra modern while our schools are ultra jungle? Prayer is the answer, my brother…prayer.

This pattern of thought is deeply entrenched in the Ghanaian psyche and has survived because it has evaded questioning and critical analysis. We’re feeding children with this absurd doses of superstition, and without benefit of travel, which often challenges such a worldview by confronting it with alternative ones, our nation is fast becoming a haven for miracle-seeking zombie-like people. Prayer is the answer, my sister…prayer.

This year, God has revealed to Rev. Bempah, a past student of Archbishop Duncan-Williams, that the sitting president is going to die. According to him, intercessional prayers are required to reverse the calamity. Religious leaders have expressed divided opinion on this prophecy. Many have brushed it aside as an attention-seeking stunt, while others have braced themselves up for prayers.

Pause briefly to examine the nature of the prophecy. It is such that it can never be proven wrong. What can’t be proven wrong is always right. What is always right is practically useless. Why? Because it adds nothing to our body of knowledge. Thus, if by coincidence the president dies this year, just like 100s of Ghanaians would, the prophet is vindicated. If he doesn’t die, it was so because God listened to the prayers. Again, Bempah is vindicated.

Remember the former President, Attah Mills? The reverend apparently foretold his death and again, laid down intercessionary prayer as conditionality for his survival. Really? The former president was already down with cancer, which only a few survive anyway. If he had lived past 2012, he’d have done so because God heard the prayers and decided to intervene. Sensed the absurdity?

I posit that Bempah’s prophecy itself is a lifeless pronouncement unless the president and Ghanaians decide to animate it by believing in it. This is how it works. Once we collectively believe it, we succumb our will to it, endowing it with the power to shape our reality. If our faith in it becomes complete, it overgrows our reality, saps away its life, and eventually becomes indistinguishable from it. What becomes of the President ultimately then, is nothing more than the sum of our individual and collective realities, which in this case is the product of our misplaced believe. Essentially, we’d have succeeded in creating our own reality to mirror Bempah’s prophecy. It is analogous to a dream, which is but a vivid projection of our own subconscious thoughts and aspirations, although it is an entirely false reality.

Here’s a scenario to underscore the point. The president complains of a minor headache weeks after Bempah’s pronouncement. Before the prophecy, he would’ve have brushed it off or taken an over-the-counter pain killer. The following day, he’s back to work at the Jubilee house fit and sound. With this prophecy however, things are going to be different. Family members and friends will start to panic. He’d receive numerous calls asking about his health. He becomes overly conscious of the headache and gives it extra attention than it deserves. He starts to think the headache may have something to do with the prophecy. He begins to succumb to fear, his blood pressure rises, and he becomes sleepless and agitated. Sleeplessness weakens his immune system, giving way to other diseases. He’s rushed to the hospital, but the doctor finds nothing wrong with him organically. This makes him and his family even more nervous. “Bempah must be right”, they whisper to each other. Next, the president is rushed to spiritual healers for prayers and rituals.

Well, if he regains his health in the process (a placebo effect), the prophecy has come to pass. If he dies, the prophecy has been fulfilled. In both cases, the reverend’s power and influence soar and reaffirms superstitious beliefs. The next Sunday, worshippers flood his chapel for prayers and miracles. He makes money and becomes rich overnight. “God blesses his obedient servants with riches and wealth”, he tells his congregation. In fact, his life becomes very “tasty” like “aluguntugui.” Funny, huh?

Belief is like a living organism, and behaves like a parasite. It has no material substance, form nor shape, but it is potent with incredible capabilities. Its power lies in its ability to sap life from the living brain, neutralize its critical thinking ability, and then assumes it. When the process (metamorphosis) is complete, the brain becomes an empty shell that houses and protects its new host. Younger brains are particularly susceptible to this phenomenon. Wondered why the Taliban prefers young boys and girls for its suicide missions?

A society like ours that feeds on what I term “unproductive beliefs” such as unfounded superstition regresses (reminiscent of the middle ages), and the one that feeds on productive ones progresses. Productive belief is a refined and evolved one that has survived “thinking” in the form of questioning and doubting. Believing in the power of the human intellect, for instance, is an example of a productive belief because it leads to discoveries and inventions that improve life. Unproductive beliefs are unrefined: they are pampered and “saved” from thinking. “Just believe…don’t ask questions”, they say. In fact, critical thinking poisons and kills unproductive beliefs in the same way that freedom kills communism. They survive in the minds of people who would rather believe anything than think one thing.

The human specie has evolved greatly over the millennia through complex adaptions. Each successive adaption was a victory for our survival. Perhaps superstition had a survival value to our ancestors in pre-modern societies. Today, however, progress in science has rendered their value useless. Isn’t it time we applied thinking and problem solving to our numerous challenges using the latent power of our incredible brains? Manna no longer falls from the heavens, it is cultivated right here on earth.

Mr. President, I entreat you to not die or survive 2013 to vindicate reverend Bempah. Just vanish, melt or something…anything apart from dying or living.

Kwame E. Bidi The author is 2009 graduate of University of Ghana currently studying for advance degree at The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, Massachusetts.