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A former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Martey says Christian leaders have been compromised with bribes hence their inability to condemn corrupt practices in the country.
In his view, political actors have succeeded in baiting pastors with ‘bribe’ gifts which spells doom for them should they attempt to speak against the ills of society, especially regarding ‘political corruption’.
“Some pastors naively and innocently, accept gifts that turn out to be baits and bribes which subsequently muzzle church leaders from preaching prophetic messages with power. Sometimes such so-called gifts and the accompanying conversations are secretly recorded and that spells doom for the pastor,” he said.
Prof. Martey also explained that Christian leaders are reluctant to speak against pervasive corruption in the country because they fear harsh criticisms from the public.
Speaking at a public lecture in Koforidua he said “Ghanaians can insult … Many pastors cannot withstand such insults and therefore keep quiet amidst corruption. But they forget that was the way the master went.”
He added that many church leaders are afraid of criticising corrupt politicians from the same ethnic group for fear of being accused of “betrayal of ethnic brothers and sisters.”
“They are also afraid that church members belonging to the ethnic group of corrupt people they speak against will leave the church.”
The outspoken Professor on national issues including corruption and economic mismanagement under the Mahama administration debunked claims that he has gone silent now.
Responding to why he is not vocal currently, Rev. Prof Martey indicated that he has adopted text messaging as his approach to making his views on national issues known.
“The revelation, practice and procedure of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, the spirit of our constitution is that the Presbyterian Church has only one representative to speak on behalf of the Church and that person is the serving Moderator,”
