Charlatans in Cassocks: When Prophecy Becomes Performance

Introduction

In Ghana, faith has never been a private affair. It echoes through trotro sermons, dominates morning radio debates, and fills billboards promising miracles before the month’s end. Religious expression occupies public space with confidence and often with beauty. Yet during the recent New Patriotic Party (NPP) internal elections, another carefully crafted spectacle unfolded—a parade of prophetic proclamations that bore uncanny resemblance to theatrical rehearsals, complete with scripts, suspense, climactic declarations, and ultimately, anticlimax.

Key Points

Background

Ghana’s religious landscape has long been characterized by vibrant public expression. Faith permeates everyday life, from transportation to media to advertising. This openness creates space for religious leaders to influence public discourse, but it also exposes spiritual claims to public scrutiny.

The NPP internal elections of January 31, 2026, became a focal point for prophetic activity. Multiple religious figures confidently predicted outcomes, some even providing specific figures as though heaven had issued a production schedule. These pronouncements circulated vigorously online, building anticipation and expectation among followers.

When election results began trickling in, several high-profile prophecies collapsed under empirical reality. Among the most discussed was the case involving Gobɛ Prophet Bernadino Azumah Eshunto, whose confident predictions were contradicted by actual results. Rather than acknowledging error, the response involved reinterpretations, spiritual footnotes, and post-performance explanations that the prophecy was “conditional” or that unseen forces had intervened.

Analysis

As a theatre artist observing these events, the parallels between prophetic declarations and theatrical performance become striking. There were opening monologues delivered in grave tones, symbolic gestures intended to signal divine transmission, and carefully timed media releases. Prophets named victors and announced celestial verdicts with the confidence of seasoned performers.

The Bible itself warns against confusing certainty with authority: “When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord and the thing does not come to pass… that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken.” Another text cautions, “By their fruits you shall know them.” These passages weren’t written to suppress religious speech but to tether it to responsibility.

African wisdom traditions echo this concern. The Akan proverb reminds us: “The drummer who beats loudly must keep to time.” Among the Yoruba, one hears, “The masquerade that dances in daylight invites inspection.” Public performance, whether sacred or secular, comes with public scrutiny and critical evaluation.

What many of these prophetic interventions displayed was not contemplative spirituality but dramaturgy—where suspense built through social media teasers, authority established through costume and ritual, and credibility amplified through viral circulation. The pulpit became a stage; the prophecy, a plot device; the voters, an unwilling audience drafted into a drama not of their choosing.

This is not an indictment of religion itself. Ghana is sustained by countless clergy whose work in education, welfare, and moral formation is both quiet and indispensable. Nor is it an argument that religious leaders should remain silent on national affairs. Historically, prophets—both biblical and African—spoke truth to power, challenged injustice, and unsettled corrupt systems.

What is under scrutiny is the transformation of prophecy into political punditry, delivered with the aesthetic force of revelation but lacking the epistemic humility of scholarship, common sense, or the ethical courage of self-correction. In academic terms, we might call this the performativization of prophecy—where religious speech is crafted less for discernment than for circulation; less for moral interrogation than for audience capture.

The danger isn’t merely comedic. When prophets assign divine endorsement to political outcomes, they risk sacralizing partisanship. Followers may interpret electoral success as heaven’s applause and defeat as spiritual illegitimacy. Ghana’s democracy, already fragile and polarized, becomes entangled in supernatural dramaturgy. The ballot box is overshadowed by the pulpit.

Meanwhile, when these prophecies fail without acknowledgment, the damage is slow but corrosive. Faithful followers experience cognitive dissonance. Skeptics grow more cynical. Young people, watching the repeated cycle of certainty and retreat, begin to conflate religion with performance art—except without the honesty that theatre at least admits: it’s pretending, a slice of life on stage.

Theatre, after all, is honest about its fiction. We rehearse. We revise. We accept reviews. The prophet who refuses evaluation after a failed prediction behaves less like a messenger and more like an impresario protecting a brand. African elders would shake their heads. One proverb puts it simply: “Wisdom does not shout in the marketplace unless it is ready for questions.”

If prophetic ministries insist on occupying national political discourse, then the ethical demand is straightforward: transparency when right, humility when wrong, and discretion when the temptation for spectacle outweighs the call to conscience. For politicians, too, a warning is necessary. Courting prophetic endorsement in moments of ambition and abandoning it in moments of embarrassment reduces religion to campaign paraphernalia and empty slogans. Democracy is sustained by institutions and civic trust, not by livestreamed heavenly revelations.

Practical Advice

For religious leaders engaging in political prophecy:

1. **Embrace accountability**: When predictions fail, acknowledge the error openly rather than reinterpreting events retroactively.

2. **Maintain epistemic humility**: Frame prophetic utterances with appropriate uncertainty rather than absolute certainty.

3. **Separate spiritual guidance from political endorsement**: Distinguish between moral principles and partisan preferences.

4. **Consider timing and context**: Evaluate whether public prophecy serves spiritual purposes or merely amplifies personal influence.

5. **Practice self-correction**: Develop mechanisms for internal review and correction within religious organizations.

For citizens evaluating prophetic claims:

1. **Apply critical thinking**: Test prophetic claims against observable outcomes and historical patterns.

2. **Recognize theatrical elements**: Be aware of how performance techniques may influence perception of prophetic authority.

3. **Value consistency**: Give more weight to religious leaders who demonstrate consistency between their words and actions.

4. **Seek diverse perspectives**: Consult multiple sources and viewpoints before accepting prophetic interpretations.

5. **Prioritize substance over spectacle**: Focus on the ethical and moral content of religious teaching rather than dramatic presentation.

FAQ

Conclusion

The NPP elections have concluded, and a clear winner has emerged. Yet what lingers in the cultural archive is not about who triumphed, but how easily prophecy slipped into pageantry and danced nakedly on the National Theatre stage. In theatre, we know that a performance can thrill without enlightening, impress without transforming, dazzle without depth. When prophecy adopts these same priorities, it ceases to be revelation and becomes entertainment—komos ode, a drunken revelry.

The cassock becomes costume, the pulpit becomes the proscenium, and faith, something meant to illuminate conscience, risks becoming collateral damage in a poorly reviewed production. In an era where microphones are cheap and audiences are large, the cassock alone cannot confer credibility. Truth, responsibility, and consistency still matter. Without them, prophecy becomes performance, and faith becomes collateral damage.