Methodist Bishop publicly humiliated days after Mahama’s ‘dead conscience’ Clergymen remark 

Popular NDC serial caller, Appiah Stadium, has been captured on video accosting Rev Prof Emmanuel Asante, the past Chairman of the National Peace Council, and calling him “a hypocrite” for, in his opinion, keeping silent on all the ills happening in Ghana under President Akufo-Addo.

But, Rev Prof Emmanuel Asante, whom the Akufo-Addo government in May 2020, got appointed by the UN Secretary-General as a Member of the Sixth Secretary-General’s Peace Building Fund Advisory Group angrily retorted; “you want us to do your bidding, and we won’t do your bidding” in reference to the opposition NDC.

The confrontation between Appiah Stadium and Rev Asante comes in the wake of ex-President John Mahama’s recent meeting with some clergymen who had gone to see him on some national matters, including the Monday December 20, incident of Members of Parliament heated exchanges and brawls in the House just before the final vote on the controversial Electronic Transfer Levy Bill, also known as e-levy.

Mr Mahama at the meeting had remarked “if it was felt that our MPs should sit timidly and let them pass this unconstitutionality, it won’t happen. I am happy that that rowdy scene has woken your consciences that you must intervene because there is a lot that is happening in this country that if we don’t intervene it will affect our democracy.”

A short video which has gone viral since Wednesday, shows that after exchanging pleasantries at funeral of the Paramount Chief of Offinso, who was third in command of the Ashanti Kingdom, Nana Wiafe Akenteng III, Appiah Stadium firstly, nicely inquired from the cleric about why he has suddenly lost his voice on national issues now that President Akufo-Addo is at the helm of affairs.

Rev Prof Asante managed to put on a smile while explaining to his accuser that during the Mahama era, he was the Chairman of the National Peace Council, but that was no more the case currently, and, thus, he cannot just speak without locus.

“I wasn’t speaking in my capacity as a Ghanaian then”, he told Appiah Stadium, clarifying: “I’m not [Rev Dr] Asante-Antwi” as his interlocutor had mistaken him for.

Appiah Stadium then asked Rev Prof Asante if he was no longer a Ghanaian now.

He then pointed out to the cleric that the cost of a one-hour flight of President Akufo-Addo’s private jet rentals for foreign trips alone can build a whole school block, contrasting that with the situation under former President John Mahama, who, he said, never embarked on such luxurious trips with a rented private jet.

He then asked the man of God: “Are you sure you are not a hypocrite?”

A riled Rev Prof Asante then parried the hypocrisy charge levelled against him, saying: “I’m not a hypocrite”, and then lunged at Appiah Stadium thus: “You’re the hypocrite”, explaining: “So far as you do your bidding, I will not do your kind of politics”.

The recriminations continued between the two men, with each of them aggressively pointing accusing fingers at the other, as they parted company amidst a dispersing crowd of mourners at the funeral ground.

Appiah Stadium told the Rev Prof Asante that God would, one day, question him in his silence, to which the cleric retorted: “God will judge you more than me”, adding angrily: “He [God] will cut off your head” while walking away.

Appiah Stadium would have the last word, responding: “He [God] will slash your stomach; liar!”

In May 2020, the UN Secretary-General appointed Most Rev. Prof. Asante,

a Member of the Sixth Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund Advisory Group.

The appointment to the Group is consistent with the Terms of Reference of the Peacebuilding Fund adopted by the UN’s General Assembly.

The candidates for the group are nominated by Member States, including countries contributing to the Fund.

The United Nations Peace Building Fund is the organization’s financial instrument of first resort to sustain peace in countries or situations at risk or affected by violent conflict.

From 2006 to 2017, the Fund approved a total of $772 million to 41 recipient countries, and from 2017 to 2019, it scaled up its commitments by approving $531 million for 51 countries.

Most Rev. Professor Asante at the time was still serving as the Chairperson of the National Peace Council and one of the 10-member Peacebuilding Fund Advisory Group.

President John Evans Atta Mills had made him Chairman of Ghana’s National Peace Council.

Members of the Sixth Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund Advisory Group also include Ms. Anne Anderson, Ambassador (ret.), Ireland; Ms. Lise Filiatrault, Ambassador (ret.), Canada; Ms. Liberata Mulamula, Ambassador.

Tanzania; Mr. Johannes Oljelund, Director-General for International Development Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden; Ms. Sara Pantuliano, Chief Executive, Overseas Development Institute, United Kingdom; Mr. Stéphane Rey, Head of Peace Policy ,Deputy Head of the Human Security Division, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland; and H.E. Mr. Gert Rosenthal, Ambassador (ret.), Guatemala.

The rest are H.E. Mr. Hanns Heinrich Schumacher, Ambassador (ret.), Germany; and Ms. Marriët Schuurman, Director, Department of Stability and Humanitarian Aid, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands.

Mr. Mahama at the meeting with the clergymen and women, described the incidents and actions taken by the Minority Group in parliament before the house went on recess for the Christmas as a “fight for democracy”.

He justified the fight that occurred in Parliament over the E-levy, saying the Minority lawmakers were not expected to sit timidly to allow unconstitutionality to pass in the House.

He told the clergy who visited him that the constitution is clear on how proceedings should be conducted in Parliament. Therefore setting aside the right procedure was always going to raise eyebrows.

“If you get the details of our concerns you will understand the view from where we are coming from. I do think this meeting is timely, it is good to hear from all sides.

“By the time you have hear what we have to say you will realize that the problem is much deeper than what you think. That is why I have brought some of the MPs. That fight was a fight for democracy , there is no way a speaker can sit in the chair, relinquish the chair, let somebody else come and sit and take a vote in something that he has presided over.

“The constitution is clear, you take a voice vote, is have it, somebody challenges it, it means we don’t agree with your choice so you must sit in the chair and do a division.”

“It was felt that our MPs should sit timidly and let them pass this unconstitutionality, it won’t happen. I am happy that that rowdy scene has woken your consciences that you must intervene because there is a lot that is happening in this country that if we don’t intervene it will affect our democracy,” Mr Mahama further indicated.

The sit-in Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, had announced that a division would be followed to approve the Bill, presented under a certificate of urgency, and he was going to vote as well in his capacity as a MP.

That appeared to have provoked the NDC members, who questioned his decision to vote after presiding over the night’s proceedings.

Speaking during a meeting called at the instance of a delegation from the leadership of the various church groups and associations in his office in Accra, the former President told the Christian leaders that the resistance of the Minority Group, which led to the brawl was a fight for democracy, and to prevent an unconstitutionality.

Mr. Mahama told the church leaders, who said they were on a “peace mission” to find a resolution to “what is happening to us in our country”, that Ghanaians have made it clear that they do not want the E-Levy, and the Minority Group’s push back is a reflection of what the people want.

Led by the Most Reverend Paul K. Boafo, Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church, the delegation included representatives from the Christian Council of Ghana, the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, and the Catholic Bishops Conference.

Most Rev. Paul Boafo told the former President who was joined by the National Chairman of the NDC Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, NDC 2020 Running Mate Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, Dr. Ato Forson (MP for Ajumako Enyan Esiam) and Ahmed Ibrahim (MP for Banda) that they were on a peace mission.

“We have come as heads of churches of the various associations and groupings in Ghana. As major stakeholders, when things become of concern, we are all to take it up and see how best we can find answers and resolutions…”

“Getting to the last quarter of last year, we all experienced what our country has never experienced before. It came to the hilt when they were about closing with the introduction of the budget and E-levy and what went on the last but one day of parliament were exchanges resulting in some fight and all that. The churches or the Christian bodies became alarmed and we said we will not sit…”

But in his response President Mahama said “that fight was a fight for democracy. There is no way a Speaker can sit in the chair, relinquish the chair, let somebody else come and sit in it and take a vote in something that he has presided over. The constitution is clear”.

The former President disagreed with suggestions that the Minority should have allowed the process to continue and prevent the fracas.

“It was felt that our MPs should sit timidly and let them pass this unconstitutionality. It won’t happen”, he stressed, adding “there is a lot that is happening in this country that if we don’t intervene, it would upset our democracy. The Fourth Republic has been the most enduring and we must protect it”.

Appiah Stadium, who used to be a staunched NPP member but defected to the NDC, is remembered for his insults on the late broadcast journalist, Komla Dumor of BBC fame over his work on the John Kufuor administration while the journalist was on Accra-based Joy FM.

He had called into one of the Super Morning Show editions and publicly asked Mr. Dumor if he was a fool by trying to make the Kufour government unpopular. He later apologized.

Source: theheraldghana.com