Coronavirus: Ghana needs a new date for Easter festivities – Opuni Frimpong

Executive Director of the Alliance for Christian Advocacy for Africa, Rev. Dr Kwabena Opuni Frimpong has suggested that a new date be set for the Easter celebration by stakeholders in the country.

He noted with concern that his assertion has become a necessity following the president directive on the ban of public gatherings including that of churches and mosques across the country.

As part of stringent measures to contain the spread of the pandemic, President Akufo-Addo, in a national address, Sunday night among other things charged that public gatherings be suspended.

With regards to religious activities and gatherings, Akufo-Addo stated that a 4-week suspension be observed to ascertain the level of threat the coronavirus poses as the country deploys contact tracing on those already infected.

Rev Opuni Frimpong hinted that the 4-week suspension will affect the Easter festivity which he noted was a mandatory celebration. He explained that as a matter-of-urgency Christian leaders needed to come together to set a new date for the period which is observed across the globe.

“I’m calling on all heads of churches; Ghana Catholic Bishop Conference, Christian Council, Ghana Pentecostal, Charismatic, etc. to meet and fix Ghana’s date for the celebration of Easter. Although the date of Easter is fixed globally, in our own context, our president has given 4 weeks [of suspension], which will affect Easter.

Easter celebration in Ghana must respond to the instruction of the president. It should not be that the president has given instruction and because it falls on 10th April, there will be no Easter celebrations in Ghana,” he stated in an interview with GhanaWeb.

The former general secretary of the Ghana Christian Council stressed that leaders of all the churches need to come together to decide on the date which will be different from what will be observed across the world due to the country’s peculiar situation.

Responding to when the date was to be fixed, Rev Opuni Frimpong said: “…Heads of churches must come out with a new date, it can be in May or June and must not necessarily coincide with Rome or Archbishop of Canterbury’s date.

"We must fix our own Easter date and celebrate it as such," he added



He shied away from responding to the president's inability to equally ground gatherings such as at the night clubs, noting that they probably had been put in a different category.

“Churches cannot say that somebody has not treated us fairly. They are asking that all those who bring huge numbers together to now slow down… let the church people do what we are supposed to do to protect the people.

No pastor, no church leader should think about ‘4-weeks they’re not going to church, how are we going to get our money. That is not a relevant question at the moment,” he concluded.