'Otabil wants to subvert democratic governance'

Dr. Tony Aidoo has lashed out at the General Overseer of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) Dr. Mensa Otabil, for impressing upon his congregation and the entire citizenry the need to offer prayers for the destiny of the nation, saying the man of God wants to provoke Ghanaians toward “insurgency”.

Expressing his view on the brouhaha over Pastor Otabil’s call to pray for the country to avert any calamity from happening, Dr. Tony Aidoo accused the man of God of being an “opportunist” who harbors grand designs of subverting government through inciting the public against the ruling class.

There have been an avalanche of criticisms against the ICGC Founder and General Overseer when at a service on Sunday July 14, 2013, he admonished Christians to call on God in prayer to avert an ominous danger that awaits the nation.

The man of God, in the middle of his sermon said he senses “heaviness in his spirit” concerning the destiny of the country; that there is something heavy ready to fall upon this country; that if we don’t take charge of that, we will be in a different state a month from now” and poured his heart out in prayers for the peace of the country.

But Dr. Tony Aidoo, alluding to previous comments made by the ICGC Leader that Christians need to wary of the actions of political leaders, which may potentially cause mayhem, pontificated on Radio Gold that the recent admonition by the man of God stems from his earnest passion to supposedly overthrow the democratic structures in the country, and consequently usher the nation into a new era of spiritual take over.

He quoted Dr. Otabil to have said in previous years that: “God creates theocratic leadership. Democratic leadership has nothing to do with the Kingdom of God,” and is, therefore, taking refuge in those ‘misguided’ statements to cause anarchy.

He also disputed the claims that Dr. Otabil made the call based on his premonitory feelings, stressing that: “inasmuch as it was not a prophecy nor a prediction, an objective, logical analysis of the content of the speech will show that it was a deliberate harbinger of social and political strife. A harbinger that is exploitative…of a potentially volatile situation like a parasite sucking at the blood of a situation that has become so vulnerable.”

“Are we not right in saying that his feeling is easily translatable into a prophecy?” because “He is a man of God, the intercessor between us, mortals, and divine providence,” he added.

To him, the pronouncements are aimed at “transposing theocracy beyond historical boundary. Something that died in the 12th Century, he (Dr. Otabil) wants to bring it back.”

In a rather strident manner, the former Deputy Defence Minister in the erstwhile Rawlings era, pointed out to Dr Otabil that, the fact that the country is encountering some problems doesn’t mean he should “be opportunistic to say that you’ll take power. You can’t take power from the government. We have an established government and we don’t need a spiritual intercessor to come and take power.”

“Dr. Mensah Otabil will not take power from the government. You will not (Dr Otabil) because we put that government in place by democratic principles, not by any false conception of transcendental world, where we are going to go.

“…Some men of God use the name of Jesus Christ and Satan to achieve their goals because the two names sell like hot cakes,” Dr Tony Aidoo said.