Presidential Envoy for Interfaith and Ecumenical Relations, Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, has urged Ghanaian preachers, especially prophets, to envision the country’s socioeconomic growth and prosperity, rather than focusing on death as is often the case.
Speaking at the launch of a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) school in honour of Cardinal Appiah Turkson’s late brother, Dr. J. Kofi Turkson, Mr. Afriyie-Ankrah said, “I urge our prophets to start seeing visions of Ghana becoming like Malaysia, Japan, and Singapore, and not just visions of death.”
Mr Ankrah noted that nations such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Japan were once on the same crawling economic ladder as Ghana at independence, but have surpassed it by prioritising TVET.
“My hope and belief is that with President Mahama’s vision, Ghana can achieve similar progress,” Mr. Afriyie-Ankrah indicated.
He also used the occasion to clarify his new role, stressing that as Presidential Envoy, his mandate is to promote interfaith and ecumenical dialogue, not to gather prophecies, as has been suggested in some circles.
The issue of prophecy, he explained, only emerged as an emergency intervention following the wave of doomsday predictions that flooded the country after the tragic helicopter crash that claimed the lives of eight gallant men on national assignment.