The Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) has bluntly condemned Bishop Daniel Obinim’s ‘unruly’ behavior and accused him of taking advantage of unsuspecting Ghanaians.
According to the Council, recent utterances by Bishop Obinim, the General Overseer of the International God’s Way Ministries, have assumed an alarming proposition.
The man of God has been making news headlines over the years for the wrong reasons. He is on record to have disrupted a live radio programme with cudgel.
The Kumasi-based pastor is popular for his ‘disputable’ miraculous services. He received avalanche of criticism recently when he claimed that he has power to turn into snake and bite his victims to death.
His fellow men of God who tried to rein him in have not been spared his vitriolic attacks. Just last week he called the founder and leader of the Royal House Chapel International, Sam Korankye Ankrah a fool for calling him to order.
But in a press statement, the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council rejected Obinim’s claims that he and Jesus change into animals as ungodly.
“We wish to point out that the GPCC and its honourable NEC members have no personal grudges against Bishop Obinim, nor are we in anyway jealous of him as he claims, but will stand up against anybody who under the guise of the name of Christ seeks to take advantage of Ghanaians.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to point out that the Lord we follow does not at any point change into any of His creation, safe for his incarnation to save humanity. The stomping on the stomach of a pregnant woman as a means of healing, the holding and displaying a man’s sexual organ in the full view of the cameras is all non ethical and need not be entertained.
The Council also condemned the activities of charlatans parading as pastors.
“The abuse of unsuspecting Ghanaians by so-called men of God is becoming alarming and so evident.
“The increasing electronic media landscape and social media has revealed how such people are taking advantage of the unfortunate vulnerabilities of their congregations and the unsuspecting Ghanaian public to defraud and blackmail them in the name of so called prophecies and miracles.”
It further noted, “With the expanding media landscape, these charlatans have taken over the airwaves and deceiving people with all kinds of strange doctrines in the name of religious freedom.”
Below is the full statement by the GPCC
The Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) has noted with great concern video recordings gone viral on various forms of media depicting verbal attacks by Bishop Daniel Obinim on its 1st Vice President, Rt. Rev. Sam Korankye Ankrah over what the former considers an attack against him in a recent interview granted by Rev. Sam Korankye Ankrah. Obinim in the said video clip used some unprintable words in the description of Rev. Sam Korankye Ankrah. This is not different from some of the insults he has rained on certain noble people in our society in the recent past.
The abuse of unsuspecting Ghanaians by so-called men of God is becoming alarming and so evident. The increasing electronic media landscape and social media has revealed how such people are taking advantage of the unfortunate vulnerabilities of their congregations and the unsuspecting Ghanaian public to defraud and blackmail them in the name of so called prophecies and miracles.
In as much as the Council believes strongly in the biblical doctrines of prophecies and miracles as signs of the workings of the Holy Spirit in our lives as Christians and the Church, the wanton abuse and manipulation of the sound doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ by these few charlatans for their egocentric interests ought to be exposed and condemned by the majority and genuine Christians.
Mostly “freelancers” and without any standardised theological and moral training from any recognised theological institution, statements from these so called prophets purporting to be speaking the mind of God, though speaking from their own mind, are most of the time irreconcilable with the Bible, which is the standard for evaluating all such prophecies. With the expanding media landscape, these charlatans have taken over the airwaves and deceiving people with all kinds of strange doctrines in the name of religious freedom.
We wish to point out that the GPCC and its honourable NEC members have no personal grudges against Bishop Obinim, nor are we in anyway jealous of him as he claims, but will stand up against anybody who under the guise of the name of Christ seeks to take advantage of Ghanaians. For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to point out that the Lord we follow does not at any point change into any of His creation, safe for his incarnation to save humanity. The stomping on the stomach of a pregnant woman as a means of healing, the holding and displaying a man’s sexual organ in the full view of the cameras is all non ethical and need not be entertained.
While the Council will continue to work with other recognised Christian bodies in Ghana to provide leadership, self-regulation and instilling discipline in the Body of Christ in Ghana, we call on all Ghanaians, especially Christians to return to the Bible as our main reference point and standard for evaluating and confirming such prophecies or strange teachings and not to easily fall for the machinations of these so called prophets. The Bible clearly teaches all to discern those who are of God by examining their character (fruits). For example, no genuine servant of God will spew foul language against any person, poor or rich, man or woman, let alone a minister of the Gospel.
The major problem with failing to address self-claimed prophets is that such people can lead sincere people to disaster, just as in the case of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God in Uganda, where close to 800 people perished, 530 of them being in a locked church that was set ablaze. Similarly David Koresh of USA, leader of Branch Davidians religious sect in Texas, believing himself to be the final prophet, deceived many people, until a raid and subsequent siege by Federal Bureau of Investigation, which ended with David Koresh setting fire in the building killing 74 people. Another story is Jim Jones who led his followers to commit mass suicides. Their deceptive stories are no different from these latter-day ones whose behaviour could eventually end in similar vein if not quickly checked. Ghanaians may recall that in the recent past, similar characters have emerged on the national scene, with some even claiming to be the Christ, deceiving many into selling out their material possessions in anticipation of the second coming and the imminent destruction of the world.
Consequently, we call on all media houses, especially the electronic ones to lend their support in helping weed out these characters by not allowing financial considerations to override the general interest and safety of the public. The Council also wishes to call on the National Media Commission to speed up the passage of the Religious Broadcasting Bill into law to regulate these excesses, including potential hate speeches from religious broadcasters in the media landscape.
We urgently call on the Government to engage the legally registered Christian Ecumenical Bodies to find a way to sanitise the system without curtailing the freedom to worship, enshrined in our Republican Constitution.
The leadership of GPCC also wishes to assure all Ghanaians that it will continue to lead the crusade through its over 230 member churches across Ghana, to weed out all such undesirable elements in the religious community, and is also willing to provide mentoring support and guidance for all genuine Ministers of the gospel willing to submit to the guiding authority of the Council to enhance the propagation of the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thank you.
Long Live Ghana!
Signed By
Apostle Dr. Opoku Onyinah
Chairman – The Church of Pentecost
President
Rt. Rev. Sam Korankye Ankrah
Royalhouse Chapel Int.
1st Vice President
Apostle Dr. Stephen K. Amoani
Chairman – Christ Apostolic Church
2nd Vice President
Rev. Clement Anchebah
Chairman – Fountain Gate Chapel
Treasurer
Rev. Dr. Paul Frimpong Manso
Gen. Supt. – Assemblies of God, Ghana
Apostle Peter Okoe Mankralo
President–The Apostolic Church, Ghana
Most Rev. Dr. Charles Agyinasare
Presiding Bishop – Perez Chapel
Rt. Rev. S. N. Mensah
Gen. Overseer – Full Gospel Church Int.
Rev. Dr. Seth Mensah Ablorh
Manna Mission
Apostle Dr. Nana Anyani Boadum
Jesus Generation Church
Bishop Dr. Prince Baah
Calvary Crusaders Ministry
Rev. C. A. Marfo Ahenkorah
Foursquare Gospel Church
Rev. Dr. Gordon Kisseih
Miracle Life Church Global
Rt. Rev. Dr. S. K. Ofori
Evangelical Church
Apostle Samuel Yaw Antwi
General Secretary
Source: tv3network.com | Ghana
Defeated Member of Parliament aspirant of the New Patriotic Party in the Klottey Korle constituency, Nii Noi Nortey has declared that he would contest as an independent candidate in the November 7 polls.
His decision follows what he describes as ‘extensive consultation’ with friends, colleagues and the grass root members in the constituency. Nii Noi Nortey won the first NPP primary in the constituency when he contested against Philip Addisson and one other.
Defeated Member of Parliament aspirant of the New Patriotic Party in the Klottey Korle constituency, Nii Noi Nortey has declared that he would contest as an independent candidate in the November 7 polls.
His decision follows what he describes as ‘extensive consultation’ with friends, colleagues and the grass root members in the constituency.
Nii Noi Nortey won the first NPP primary in the constituency when he contested against Philip Addison and one other.
He indicated that “as lawyer Addison said he has the support of the flagbearer, Nana Addo but I also want to say I have the support of the grassroot.”
Nii Noi lost the recent rerun of the primaries which was closely fought between him and the eventual winner, Phillip Addison.
Addison polled 396 out of the 765 votes cast, to beat his only contender, Nii Noi Nortey, who polled 367 votes. Out of 790 delegates expected to cast their ballot, only 765 voted. Two ballots were rejected.
After the election, his supporters were agitated and questioned the decision of the party to allow for a rerun. They accused the leadership of the NPP of being biased.
Addressing the media to outline his decision, Mr. Nortey said “I have done my part for his party. I have been obedient. I have been respectful, what we got back in return was for a party to go out there and not to defend its actions, what we got back in return was for the party to organize an election just to favour someone else.”
Source: tv3network.com 
Two persons have been confirmed dead after an Urvan bus they were travelling with was involved in an accident Wednesday morning.
Twelve others who sustained several degrees of injuries are currently being treated at the Tema General Hospital.
The cause of the accident is sketchy but police sources told TV3 it is likely the driver had brake failure.
Doctors are working serious around the clock to also resuscitate some of the passengers who went into coma as a result of the accident, Josephine gathered.
TV3’s correspondent Josephine Frempong who was at the hospital reports that some of the victims had serious head injury.
The mini urvan bus was conveying passengers from Ashaiman, a suburb of Accra, to Koforidua in the Eastern Region.
The bus allegedly developed a brake failure and somersaulted several times near Shai Hills, injuring the occupants with two losing their lives.
Source: tv3network.com | Ghana
Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo, wife of the 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, has appealed to Ghanaians to entrust the mandate of leadership into the hands of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in this year’s election, assuring that “he will deliver on all the promises he has made”.
Mr Moses Foh-Amoaning, the Executive Secretary of the National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values, has said homosexual unions were unlawful and it is a criminal offense to engage in the act.He said this during one of its regional consultative meetings with traditional councils to draw attention to the growing threat of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-sexual (LGBT) right activism in the country.
The meeting, which was attended by the clergy, Muslim leaders, school chaplains, opinion leaders and members of the Oguaa traditional council, was jointly organised by Emmanuel University and the National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values.Mr Foh-Amoaning, who is also a senior law lecturer at the Ghana school of Law, said homosexuality was a human weakness and legalizing it would mean elevating what was clearly a human wrong into human rights.
The law lecturer questioned why people were being prosecuted for engaging in sodomy, which is a similar sexual orientation, but homosexuals were not, saying so far as sodomy remained an offense, so should homosexuality.“We cannot trust our politicians on all other issues because there have been several matters where this country has been sold off by our politicians, but on this issue of homosexuality, we would not allow our politicians to sell us off”, he said.“Why is polygamy a criminal offence in the United States, but it is normal in Ghana, so what right has Obama got to tell us that if we criminalize homosexuality, we are against human rights.Is he not against human rights when he made polygamy a criminal offence in the US?”He said the coalition believes that homosexuality is a human weakness and therefore would seek to provide a comprehensive solution to the problem and not victimize assault and kill those who engaged in it as it was being propagated by some people.
He said there is no scientific, theological and legal or any psychiatric basis for homosexuality and for that matter Africa and the rest of the world must be courageous enough to speak against it.
Mr Foh-Amoaning said the attempt by the western world to force African countries to accept homosexuality was a form of neocolonialism aimed at enslaving the mindset of black people and challenged African leaders not to succumb to this undue pressure.He pledged the coalition’s commitment to ensure that persons vying for any political office clearly state their position on the issue of homosexuality in this year’s general elections.
He said it cannot not be legally tenable simply because someone has a propensity to a certain sexual orientation for that orientation to be elevated into human rights and be protected by the law.
It was on the theme: “Uniting to combat the scourge of Homosexual (LGBT RIGHTS) Activism in Ghana, the Tripartite Strategy”.
The coalition is a mix of Christian and Para Christian bodies, Muslim society and other entities aimed at ensuring the preservation of sexual and family values.
He said the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights in itself did not state any rights for homosexuals and emphasized that the Ghanaian constitution was also explicitly clear in respect to the Human Rights provisions.
Source: GNA 
In the Jerusalem attack, police said a gunman opened fire on a group of police officers outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate, seriously wounding one of them. The suspect wounded another in the subsequent chase, but was then shot and killed, police said.
Meanwhile, witnesses in the Tel Aviv suburb of Petah Tikva said a Palestinian attacker was killed with his own knife by the ultra-Orthodox Jew who he had just stabbed. The wounded man was rushed to hospital to be treated for wounds to his upper body.
At least 29 Israelis have been killed in a wave of stabbing, shooting or car-ramming attacks by Palestinians or Israeli Arabs since October.
More than 180 Palestinians – mostly attackers, Israel says – have also been killed in that period.
The assailants who have been killed have been shot dead either by their victims or by security forces as they carried out attacks. Some attackers have been arrested.
Other Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli troops.
Source: BBC
A Ukrainian pilot on trial in Russia over the killing of two journalists has addressed the court and says she will continue a hunger strike she has been on for five days.
A verdict in the case is due on or around 21 March but her lawyers have said she will not survive that long unless she is force-fed.
Ukrainian consuls in the Russian region of Rostov say judges in the case are refusing to issue any more permits to visit Ms Savchenko in prison.
Her relatives have also used up all their visiting permits, meaning a group of Ukrainian doctors en route from Kiev to visit her will also not be given access.
The EU has expressed concern about Ms Savchenko’s wellbeing, and Nobel prize-winner Svitlana Aleksievich is among more than 4,300 signatories to 
Accra Hearts of Oak have backed down on proposed hikes in their ticket prices that would have shot up popular stand tickets by 100%.
Donald Trump has won three more states, Michigan, Mississippi and Hawaii, in his bid to be the Republican White House nomination.
The Democratic opponent Mr Trump is most likely to face if he gets the Republican nomination, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, addressed voters in Ohio after her Mississippi win.
“Running for president shouldn’t be about delivering insults,” said Mrs Clinton, in a thinly veiled dig at the outspoken Mr Trump.
“It should be about delivering results.”
Foreign commandos have carried out a helicopter raid on a base of militant Islamist group al-Shabab near the southern Somali town of Awdhegele.
The militants fought off the masked commandos, but lost one fighter in the battle, al-Shabab spokesman Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab told Reuters news agency.
“They were masked and spoke foreign languages which our fighters could not understand. We do not know who they were but we foiled them,” he is quoted as saying.
A local official, Mohamed Aweys, confirmed the raid on the base, some 50km (30 miles) west of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.
“We have reports al-Shabab militants suffered casualties,” he said, AFP news agency reports.
Source: BBC