"For the first time in history, Ghanaians will have peace of mind as they crossover to 2022" has been the common statement in town as Ghana Police Service vows to enforce the law that prohibits raising false alarms and making doom prophecies to instigate fear and panic.
This directive against doom prophecies especially on crossover nights has stirred massive reactions on social media.
Most Ghanaians can't wait to see which pastor will stubbornly flout the directive and whether pastors will act in compliance with the directive or not.
Prophesying doom on the eve of a new year has been a norm in most churches in Ghana.
Crossover night is a night on which pastors predict which public figure will die in the next year. Death prophecies have always got many people talking and have always caused fear and panic in the country.
On the night of December 31, 2018, there was a prophecy by the founder and leader of the Glorious Word Power Ministry Isaac Owusu Bempah about the National Chief Imam of Ghana's death in the year to come. This doom prophecy had caused an uproar with some Zongo youths vandalizing properties at the Odorkor-branch of the church.
To prevent the potential chaos, fear, and panic caused by doom prophecies, the Ghana Police Service on Tuesday, December 27, 2021, cautioned religious groups and the public against pronouncements that instigate fear.
The police said it is unlawful in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana to raise false alarms or make dangerous prophecies without evidence.
“We want to caution that under Ghanaian law, it is a crime for a person to publish or reproduce a statement, rumour or report which is likely to cause fear and alarm to the public or to disturb the public peace, where that person has no evidence to prove that the state the men, rumour or report is true."
The police also said refusing to abide by the law can make one spend up to five years in prison.
But certain pastors in the country castigated the directive and said it is a deliberate attempt to attack the prophetic ministry.
Founder and Leader of the Prophetic Chapel Ministry, Nigel Gaisie, expressed his dissatisfaction with the directive in an interview with TV3 and said he will prophesy without fear.
“We will cross, I will prophesy in all confidence, there will not be any shadow on that, I will speak the mind of God. Personally, I am not one of the cowards, I have been called by God, I have an assignment and whoever is coming after the church is making a big mistake,” he said.
Leader and Founder of Alive Church International, Bishop Salifu Amoako, also urged the police to withdraw the directive or face the anger of God.
According to him, the police did not engage the prophetic ministry in a consultation.
The reactions of these pastors and several others make Ghanaians wonder if they will comply with the directive.
"Will there be prophecies tonight? Will they defy the directive?" are the common questions in town now.
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