Photo: His Eminence Osman Nuhu Sharubutu
WHEN RELIGION BECOMES A SHIELD FOR CORRUPTION AND A WALL AGAINST MERIT
If Ghana were a church, the pulpit would be in Jubilee House, the choir in Parliament, and the offering bowl in every ministry. We have perfected the art of sanctifying corruption and calling it Christian leadership with Christian as Gatekeepers of Power. And heaven help you if you are a Muslim who dares to aspire beyond the Vice Presidency because in this republic, faith, not merit, decides who can wear the presidential crown.
Ghanaian Christians pride in peaceful coexistence with Ghanaian Muslim, yet, behind the veil of this democracy and freedom, an uncomfortable truth festers: no matter how brilliant, disciplined, or morally upright a Muslim leader may be, the presidency remains the preserve of Christians. It doesn’t matter qualification, once your prayer mat faces Mecca, you are told politely or otherwise that, your destiny ends at “second best.” We have created a republic where faith, not merit, quietly determines legitimacy. A Muslim may rise to become vice president, or parliamentarian, an adviser, or a technocrat, but never the ultimate occupant of Jubilee House.
Why? Because a cartel of self-anointed Christian patriots, baptized in hypocrisy and steeped in greed, still believe God votes only for their kind.
These are the same men who thump Bibles on Sundays, and thump the national purse on Mondays. The same moralists who quote scripture at rallies but can’t keep their zippers or their wallets closed. They call it faith in Christ. We call it religious fraud in designer suits or Christian political elite, cloaked in moral pretence, continue to wield religion as a gatekeeping weapon, painting Islam as foreign, untrustworthy, or even dangerous.
It is a cruel irony that those who claim to follow Christ, the man of truth and compassion often lead the chorus of prejudice. Many of these so-called Christian politicians have built careers not on virtue, but on performative piety and private corruption. They swear oaths on the Bible by day, and break every commandment by night.
History offers no shortage of examples. Kwame Nkrumah, theologian turned god-king, ended up with Kamkam Nyame and personal divinity. K.A. Busia, the philosopher-preacher, preached purity but practiced polygamy. Even the saintly Atta Mills, decent as he was, could not break the spell of the Christian political monopoly. Ghana has had Christian presidents by the dozen but holiness? That’s still on the waiting list.
The tragedy is not Christianity itself, it is the hypocrisy of its political custodians, who hide behind the cross to perpetuate exclusion. Christian cartel that uses religion as deodorant to mask the stench of corruption. They wave the cross to blind voters, chant morality while buying elections, and brand every Muslim leader as a “risk to national unity.” What unity thrives on exclusion? Ghana’s political morality has been baptized, but not transformed. While Ghana boast of peace between faiths, the hierarchy of leadership tells another story: Muslim excellence is tolerated, not trusted.
Let’s not pretend this is about faith, it’s about historical and structural discrimination, fear and privilege. Colonial missionaries once trained a generation to believe Christianity equals civilization. Their descendants now guard political power with that same colonial arrogance. Again, the colonial state privileged Christian education and Western culture, shaping a class that saw itself as the natural heir to power. Decades later, those reflexes remain. So, when a Muslim rises with clean hands and a sharp mind, whispers start flying: Can he be trusted? Will he Islamize Ghana? And just like that, competence is sacrificed on the altar of prejudice.
Ghana loves to call itself a religious nation. Indeed, we are a nation religiously addicted to hypocrisy. Until we unbaptize politics and cleanse it of this spiritual bias, no prayer, no pilgrimage, and no fasting will save us from our self-inflicted mediocrity. If Ghana truly believes in democracy and equality, it must confront this spiritual prejudice head-on. The presidency should not be a Christian entitlement. Competence, integrity, and service to humanity, not baptismal certificates, must define leadership.
Religious faith should purify politics, not pollute it. Until we learn that lesson, Ghana will continue to dress hypocrisy in clerical robes, and call it morality. A Nation of Crosses Without Conscience.
By Venerable Dr Nathaniel Nii Naate Atswele Agbo Nartey
Photo: His Eminence Osman Nuhu Sharubutu
