The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference is calling on the government to take firm action against religious leaders who make inciting comments, stressing that freedom of religion must be exercised within the confines of the law.
The Conference says religious freedom should not be used as a justification for statements that have the potential to threaten peace and social cohesion.
Speaking during an engagement with Parliament’s Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs Committee, President of the Conference, Most Reverend Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, criticised the government’s handling of recent cases involving religious leaders.
“Let’s say that the freedom of religion, therefore religions can do whatever they want. No, it is not. They are supposed to follow the state law. So don’t treat certain matters as religion,” he said.
Citing a recent example where a religious leader called on his followers to kill, Most Rev. Gyamfi said such acts should be treated as criminal offences and not hidden under religious freedom.
“When somebody says, if somebody says this, go and kill him. Now, don’t consider that as a religious matter. You should arrest the person. It’s clear, it’s an individual act, not a religious word. It’s a criminal act committed by an individual,” he stated.
He cautioned that framing such inciteful comments as religious conflicts risks creating tension between faiths.
“And you should not clothe it as religious and think that there is conflict between Muslims and Christians. It is not a conflict between Muslims and Christians. An inciting message being given by a wicked person who wants to create confusion in the country. And it should be treated as such.”
Most Rev. Gyamfi warned that history shows the dangers of allowing religion to be misused to foment trouble.
“Please, we have a lot of history and we know what we talk about when we say this. We have done it before. We have experienced the benefits and the negative sides of it before. Beware of religion,” he added.
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