Ghana was shaken to the core following a recent prophecy from the famous African evangelist, Prophet TB Joshua. During Sunday’s sermon at the Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN), the church’s founder stated that the West African nation along with his own country, Nigeria, would experience a western attack in the month of April should spiritual counsel not be sought by both citizens and political leaders.

“I see Thursday, Friday. Pray for these two nations – Nigeria and Ghana – over gathering in any way; over attack. I am seeing attack and that will be in a foreign way. The attack will come not in a local way. So please open your lips and pray for these two nations for protection.” ~ TB Joshua

The public reaction has begged the question of the extent to which Africans stick to the prophecies of spiritual leaders as against the predictions and warnings of State institutions, which, after all, are based not on spiritual revelations but rather scientific and security analysis.

Long before the prophesy of TB Joshua, Ghana’s police service issued a red alert of a possible terrorist attack following recent incidents in Ivory Coast and Mali. Yet the red alert which beefed up security along specific borders between Ghana and Ivory Coast and also across frequently visited public sites such as malls, courts, hospitals and hotels was welcomed with less emergency than Joshua’s prophecy. Monitoring the Ghanaian media, one could barely sense the panic a possible attack could bring.

After Joshua’s sermon, the Ghana police service jumped up just as expected to reassure panicky Ghanaians. In fact, the Ghana police service took the chance to re-echo the preparations put in place to prevent an attack:

“All the requisite operational strategies, including intelligence gathering and tactical deployment of personnel have been unfolded to nib any breach of the peace in the bud. In view of this, the Police is seeking the co-operation of the general public in the fight against the scourge of terrorism and other violent crimes. The public is, therefore, implored to bear with the Police any inconveniences efforts to deal with the situation may cause,” a statement from the police service explained.

Considering the impact of TB Joshua’s prophecy on Ghana and the impact it subsequently had on national discourse, it is clear that men of God remain the focal point for beliefs in both the Ghanaian and wider African perspective. With the proliferation of witch camps, exorcist activity, abuse of women and children among many other instances, the TB Joshua debacle is the clearest, most recent example of how powerful spiritual leaders are compared to leaders of politics and governance.

Maybe it is time some governments in Africa, especially those in the West, considered maximizing the communication potential of such spiritual leaders to their advantage in cases of public health, corruption or even national development.