Founder of Action Chapel International, Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams has cautioned about the complacency in protecting and consolidating Ghana’s current peace.
In a sermon on February 27, 2022, the ‘Papa’ as he is also referred to, tasked politicians and members of the security agencies to pay attention to the “signs on the wall” and not “dare” or “ignore” them.
At the tail end of his second sermon, the Archbishop referenced the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict to make his point about how coming events always cast their shadows but only for those who look out for the relevant signs and take action.
“This war in Ukraine and Europe, it just didn’t happen overnight; the signs were on the wall; the signs have been on the wall for some time now, and, if you study history carefully, you’ll see the signs on the wall.
“But, for whatever reason, people become very complacent and people get to a point where they lose the appetite to fight and they are so much into themselves and secure. that they ignore the interests of others.
He cautioned: “That’s why we must wake up for Ghana here – this country, because there are signs on the wall; there are signs. There’s a parable in Twi that, ‘A gale of wind precedes a rainfall’.
“… I pray that we will not ignore the signs. I pray that the church and our political leaders shall not ignore the signs. I pray that we’ll rise to the occasion and we’ll reverse the signs on the wall because things don’t just happen,” he stressed.
“The Bible says: ‘Beware, when they say, ‘peace, peace’, then cometh sudden destruction like a woman in travail. Don’t be fooled. Ghana, we haven’t seen war before. Ask Sierra Leoneans and Liberians. Ask people from Ethiopia and other countries of Africa; they’ll tell you what war is like.
His comments come amid rising conversations about coups in the sub-region and the possibility of the same in Ghana.
A day after his sermon, Prof Raymond Atuguba of the University of Ghana’s Law School spoke about the connection between economic hardships and how that could possibly trigger a coup.
Proponents for and against his views continue to share perspectives on whether or not a coup was possible given the democratic trajectory Ghana has been on under the 1992 Fourth Republican Constitution.
Relevant portion starts from 58th minute mark till the end