The main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has denied allegations that it intends assassinating Rev Isaac Owusu Benpah, describing the claim, which it attributes to the founder of the Glorious Word and Power Ministry International church as “farcical and unfounded slander”.
“Our initial inclination was to ignore these tantrums with the contempt it deserves. However, upon second thought, and in view of the fact that these allegations border on criminality, we feel compelled to amend our original position”, the party said in a statement signed by Deputy General Secretary in charge of Operations, Peter Boamah Otokunor.
Some Muslim youth attacked Rev Owusu Bempah’s church at Odorkor in course of the week following his New Year’s Eve doomsday prophecies, among which he predicted the death of the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharabutu.
The angry assailants demanded that Rev Owusu Bempah offer an unqualified apology to the Muslim cleric and the entire Muslim community.
In the NDC’s statement, the party said it “unreservedly refutes the allegations by Rev. Owusu Bempah regarding any involvement of the party in the events of January 3 at his church”, adding that: “His incantations preceding the public outcry have justifiably attracted enough widespread opprobrium”.
Read the NDC’s full statement below:
For immediate release.
Saturday, 5th January 2018
REV. OWUSU BEMPAH MUST STOP DISGRACING CHRISTIANITY
The attention of the leadership of the NDC has been drawn to the allegations made by Rev Owusu Bempah on Asempa FM on Friday, 4th January 2019 against the party.
In the said interview, the so-called Man of God stated among other things that the “largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has planned to assassinate him”.
Our initial inclination was to ignore these tantrums with the contempt it deserves. However, upon second thought, and in view of the fact that these allegations border on criminality, we feel compelled to amend our original position.
The NDC unreservedly refutes the allegations by Rev. Owusu-Bempah regarding any involvement of the party in the events of January 3 at his church. His incantations preceding the public outcry have justifiably attracted enough widespread opprobrium.
It was our sincere hope, following the dignified intervention of the National Chief Imam, that Rev. Owusu Bempah, the spiritual advisor to President Akufo-Addo, would heed the cautions of religious leaders and the wider Christian community to exercise restraint in his utterances.
Sadly, he persists in a display of levels of maturity and social consciousness that is beneath his age and stature. Having sown the seeds of discord, chaos and intolerance across religious lines, he now extends this imprudence to today’s volatile political arena.
Again, we wish to state emphatically that the NDC had no hand in the vandalism of his church premises. Neither has the NDC engaged any assassins. These are fertile but unholy imaginations of Rev. Owusu Bempah.
We, in the NDC, will not fall for this cheap attempt to draw us into the politico-religious quagmire that this NPP hireling has put the President in, but remain focused on the more important issues of national concern raised in our statement earlier in the week. If Owusu Bempah himself believes in these allegations, he should know how to seek redress through the appropriate channels.
Accordingly, the NDC requests the general public to disregard the farcical and unfounded slander against our party and its membership. Our attention is focused on defending the dignity and decency of Ghana’s democracy in these trying economic times.
We will continue to beseech the grace of God for the people of Ghana and remain steadfast in our faith in the promise of His goodness and mercy.
Signed
Cde. Peter Boamah Otokunor
Deputy General Secretary (Operations) – NDC
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