IMANI Africa Vice President Kofi Bentil has urged Ghanaians to put emotions, superstition and excessive religiosity aside and allow science, evidence and personal effort to guide national decision-making such as elections.
Speaking on the KeyPoints on the recent NPP flagbearer primary, Bentil said research and polling often reveal uncomfortable truths, but insisted that “if you have fidelity to the science, you put your emotions aside and let the science speak.”
He said it on February 7.
According to him, failure should not be blamed on spiritual forces when systems and people simply “didn’t get it right.”
He criticised what he described as the growing influence of fear-driven prophecies, noting that claims of impending death or doom can psychologically affect people “even if you don’t believe in God,” calling some practices “totally despicable.”
Bentil argued that African societies often over-spiritualise outcomes, saying, “We are a very religious society, we are superstitious, and we tend to believe there are forces beyond our effort,” which creates room for manipulation and distraction.
Using leadership as an example, he questioned the idea that God directly chooses African leaders, stating bluntly that if that were the case, “then God has done a very poor job,” given decades of poor governance and dictatorships.
He pointed to Germany’s post-war recovery as proof that progress comes from organisation, accountability and hard work, stressing that “God rewards effort.”
He called for a national shift away from religious noise toward science, discipline and evidence-based thinking.
