Majority of Ghanaian pastors are fake - Ken Agyepong

MP for Assin North, Kennedy Agyepong has taken a swipe at "fake pastors" accusing them of being responsible for fifty percent of deaths that occur in the country.  Although he failed to prove his assertion, he stated emphatically that majority of pastors operating in the country are fake.

The MP told Citi FM that such pastors are manipulating the mindset of Ghanaians and called on stakeholders to urgently address the problem.

Mr. Agyepong said pastors have been extorting money from the poor to enrich themselves rather than concentrating on the people’s salvation and described their activities as a phenomenon that retards the country’s development.

The MP, who is reported to have made the comment about a week ago on a Tema-based radio station, incurred the wrath of some pastors.

But speaking to Citi News, he maintained his comments and vowed to speak about the menace until Ghanaians come to the realization that they are being taken for a ride. He dared any pastor who thinks he is not speaking the truth to bring it on. The MP cum businessman is asking Government to tax churches since most of them were making money through nefarious means.

“I still stand by my point and I am not scared of anybody. If the Minister of Finance is going to introduce taxes for churches, the NDC government should be bold because I support them for introducing such taxes. I think it was unnecessary for the Information Ministry to come out with a rejoinder against that move” he said.

According to him, even ordinary salaried workers pay taxes so why not pastors.

“Do you know how many pastors are making so much money and do not pay anything under pretext of the church. Go and look at their houses and find out whether you have a home like that to live in. Let us speak the truth once and for all. They use churches to do all kinds of things for themselves whiles the few people in the net are paying taxes to support this country".

"So I said I support what the Finance Minister had said so the Minister of Information should not even have come out with that rejoinder. About fifty percent of the cause of death in this country is caused by pastors who do not speak the truth”.

Mr. Agyapong listed several examples of activities of so-called pastors that have brought the country’s name into disrepute on the international scene and worsened the plight of already suffering Ghanaians.  He cited a visit he made to New York where a Ghanaian Church was televised with people in chains because they were believed to be mentally sick.

According to him, her diabetic mother’s condition was worsened after a pastor gave her a toffee to cure the disease. Mr. Agyapong said he also had a personal experience where a Prophetess who told him he was going to die before Easter in 2010.

“I was told the same Prophetess prophesied that Quashigah was going to die and he died so I am the next person and she told me point blank. So she asked me to come to Koforidua but I told her not to call me again and hanged up on her. My friend’s sister was sick but the woman was so superstitious and did not tell anybody and went to a pastor’s house. She was there fore three months and the day she started coughing blood, the Pastor called her relatives to come and pick her to the Hospital. What is this? And this same people have doctors surrounding them and when they are sick, they are taken care of. I have done my statistics and I know that especially these young pastors prey on the conscience of the ignorant and we need to speak about it. Politicians need to be bold” he said.

Although Mr. Kennedy Agyepong admits that some pastors contribute positively to the social and spiritual needs of the people, he believes they are doing more harm than good. He cited instances where he stopped pastors from preaching on his radio station because they were peddling falsehood.

“In this country, majority of the pastors are fake. And about fifty percent of deaths are caused by these pastors who don't speak the truth. You listen to radio and the kind of preaching they do is nothing better. They should be preaching like Mensah Otabil and the others who will never tell you that your mother is a witch. Productivity in this country is so low and I can attribute it to some fake pastors because as early as 6:00am, they ask people to come and pray till 2:00pm, so who should work and come back to church to give the offerings”? He asked.

The MP, who studied theology himself, bemoaned how the speaking of tongues was being abused by such fake pastors.

Source: Citi FM