''All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing'' - Edmund Burke

Welcome

S I E R R A  H E R A L D

Vol 9 No 1

The tendency sometimes to protect perpetrators for the sake of peace...doesn't help society. Impunity should not be allowed to stand. - Kofi Annan on Waki report

HOME
Mission
Contact us
World Cup with the BBC
UK Serious Fraud Office
World Association for Human Rights - USA
National Union of Journalists (UK)
BBC African Service
Daily Trust of Nigeria
UN Great Lakes
PEN
INASLA
Writer Adichie
Southwark Council
S.L. Web
All Africa.com
Africa Week
AWOKO
Human Rights Watch
Amnesty International
Trial Watch
International Criminal Court
LAWCLA
One World
Royal African Society
University of
East London
Nigeria Anti Corruption Commission
(EFCC)
Institute for Democracy in Africa
archive 6
archive 7
archive 8
archive 9
archive 10
archive 11
archive 12

 

 

 

 

Sunday November 6, 2011 - Another Sunday - a day that good Christians look forward to every week for the opportunity to meet with fellow members of the faith and to worship and give praise to the Good Lord for His enduring mercies. It is also a time to reflect on on how much we have done in a truly Christian way as befits the calling and in all this be it in a church or any other place of worship should be an elder, a pastor whose duty it is to lead by example. The day is also being celebrated as Eid Ul Adha and we wish all our compatriots of the muslim faith all the good things in life that they would wish for themselves and others. We say Happy Eid Ul Adha!!!President Ernest Bai Koroma - has he abandoned his own manifesto?

As we have done in the recent past, we would continue to urge the high priest at the special altar of falsehood, deceit, moral turpitude, sewer language, profanities and sexually-explicit innuendoes created for his god ernest bai koroma to study the words in the Good Book, the Holy Bible that is, for guidance in just how anyone professing to be a Christian is expected to comport him/herself in private and in public and we would still urge him to "cut and paste" a "sermon" on the theme - "Gluttony is a sin". We still would urge him, the satanic priest that is, not be put off by his own admissions that - "The only thing I have not been able to accomplish is to pull down my weight". Is this the reason why he refuses to touch our suggested theme? Come on "fake pastor", "satanic rev" - you surely can manipulate words to present gluttony as something good for the soul.

Let us today, on this holy day for both Christians and Muslims reflect on the evils of lying, the evils of falsehood especially when it emanates from anyone claiming to be "an elder", a "pastor" who should lead by example. The recent disturbances in Bo saw a number of "true stories" from the "satanic rev" in which he claimed to know and hence published what he made out as what really happened on the ground. We have listed a few examples and of how these were expunged as soon as it became clear that he has been unmasked once more as an unrepentant liar. What manner of mind can come out with these types of stories, we humbly ask? From the formation of a Green Flag Movement in Bo to drive out all APC supporters from the town to this -

"the kingpin of today’s chaos in Bo was John Benjamin, described as the most dangerous and venal character in Sierra Leone’s politics whose lust for power knows no bound and who could sacrifice his own grandmother to get political power"

With "satanic revs" like these, now you know how the APC's infamous treason trials got the victims they had earmarked for execution by hanging - for it is the likes of these that would lie on oath to please handlers for political handouts which facilitated the government's elimination of political opponents.

The same was witnessed when chaos reigned after the SLPP office in Freetown was attacked in March 2009 with report after report purporting to know just who is to blame were published which later proved to be the figment of imagination of somebody bent on pleasing State House for a job and this from someone who had boasted that he did not need a job from government as he was making enough money from his newspaper and other sources. Oh truth where art thou when needed. Which reminds us - where are the article writers that featured so prominently those days -

Our Political Correspondent Jonathan Fynecontry  - Rape in Sierra Leone : SLPP's heartlessness to women was most shameful and unbelievable

Written by SIDE JUDGE  - SLPP and the threats to Sierra Leone's national security : Sierra Leonean expresses concern

SLPP PROVOKED THE CHAOS IN FREETOWN --- eyewitness says in report to Cocorioko

When a letter purported to have been written by "disgruntled soldiers hit the streets in Freetown, he, the lying "man of the cloth" knew where to point fingers - Rumbles in the army : Watch that foreign link

There was a time when true Christian men/women of the cloth were called upon to cement the blocks of a Christian union between man and wife and we believe this still happens - well except in the case of the "broke ose", "congosah en lie", "oose wan nar yu yone day?" of a high priest who delights in drinking deep from the sewer of corruption in which the people's resources are stolen or diverted into private pockets. We saw this about the role of pastors, real Christian pastors in relation to couples. "One of the responsibilities of a minister is the pastoral care of married couples. Pastors are often called on to provide guidance, support and listening and to help couples discern the direction of their relationship as well as specific needs (for example, around parenting). This work is intimate and requires a minister to maintain clear boundaries, avoid triangulating and speak the truth in love" Dare you trust our satanic priest with such a duty? That will be the day.

Let us share with you something we saw on the internet on fake pastors in Ghana, the kind of beast of no nation vermin that would worship anything but the true God.

We hope you will find the article below interesting. It is from "The Christian Today" of Ghana.The shameless ernest bai koroma worshippers - Photo: Sierra Express Media

Denominations in Ghana are under pressure to tighten their ranks against a crop of pastors with dubious credentials, many of whom mix Christianity with practices of traditional fetish priests.

"The phenomenon is serious," said Isaac Mills Owoo, South/West Sector Head of the Ghana Baptist Conference. "People with ulterior motives are entering the ministry … as a way to get rich quickly." And religious freedom protections prevent church leadership from stopping such pastors unless their activities are proven to be criminal.

Some pastors consult the dead in their television broadcasts. Others charge "consultation fees" of 50 cedis (US $35) or more in a country with a minimum wage of about two dollars a day.

"As I was growing up, I was made to understand that consulting the dead was sorcery," said Nana Esi, a seamstress who worships at a Methodist church in Cape Coast. "Now it is being practiced in the church."

Many Christians are wondering whether the source of power in these churches is God, juju or traditional African religion—where a priest manages a shrine and controls gods (spirits residing in physical objects) that can solve health or spiritual problems—or outright deception. Kwaku Bonsam, a prominent fetish priest known for challenging pastors to contests of supernatural power, has claimed in several interviews that he has assisted 1,000 pastors with supernatural powers for church growth. A video on his website shows him retrieving one of his gods from a pastor.

In January, an Accra circuit court sentenced Nana Kofi Yirenkyi—also known as "Jesus One Touch," founder of Jesus Blood Prophetic Ministry in Accra—to 10 years in prison for the rape of his own 10-year-old daughter. In February, police arrested pastor Vincent Bassaw, general overseer of Fountian Living Waters Church in Takoradi, for impregnating a 15-year-old student. Some arrested pastors explain that their fetish priest required them to perform frequent sexual acts in order to maintain their success.

These are only a few of many such cases that have made headlines.

"The problem is that these 'men of God' profess Christ Jesus and do appalling things," said Ebo Sackey, chairman of the Central Regional branch of the Ghana Journalists Association. "Bad news is news, and there is a lot of bad in the circles of these new churches. … You wonder whether they deserve to be called churches."

The issue has gained significant media attention and become a national worry. The vice president of Ghana, John Mahama, recently expressed concern about the situation at a church leadership conference, calling on clergy and Christian education institutions to crack down on rogue pastors.

According to Mills Owoo, the Baptist conference now requires that pastors have at least a theology diploma. "Now there are rigorous background checks by the Baptist Bible schools to get those with suspicious characters out."

Christiana Aba Tachie-Menson, registrar of St. Nicholas Anglican Seminary in Cape Coast, said student priests are carefully monitored, and anyone who falls short of the character of a priest is dismissed. "We aim at not only producing pastors but pastors worthy of the call," she said.

Many Ghanaians still come to these dubious churches, seeking solutions to problems of unemployment, marriage, and childlessness. Kweku Adu, a second-hand shoe seller in Cape Coast, says he does not care where these pastors get their powers: "If only he can solve my problem, I am ready to be part of that church."

Government figures indicate that more than 69 percent of Ghana's 24.5 million people profess Christianity. "The situation is complicated," said Nana Esi. "Everybody in Ghana professes Jesus as Lord even if they don't go to church."

"As a church, we have made it a priority to educate our members about the activities of these false prophets and how to identify them," Mills Owoo said. "And we just hope and pray that they don't fall prey."

Yearning for the mother country?

The right choice is Kevin McPhilips Travel

©Sierra Herald 2002