Church and Politics: An Assessment of the Bases and Approach of the Church’s Political Engagement in Ghana

Abstract

The church has maintained that it has a role to play in the country’s politics and that its interests are the welfare of the nation rather than a partisan agenda. To explore these assertions, this article analysed official documents and other studies on the church’s political engagement. The analysis was complemented with data from interviews with selected clergy and Christian politicians. Eight (8) members of the clergy and twenty-seven politicians (27) from the mainline, and the Pentecostal-Charismatic churches, were interviewed. They were selected using both purposive and snow-balling sampling techniques. The paper contends that the church’s involvement in Ghana’s politics has an intrinsic theological and moral basis as well as socio-economic motivations. Also, the approach and attitude in its political engagement to a large extent have been that of dialogue, collaboration, and non-partisan. Among other factors, the church’s approach has been significant in the successes it has chalked in its political engagements. However, in the discourse of church and politics in Ghana, much attention has not been given to the basis for the church’s continual political engagements, and the attitude and approach it has adopted over the years. This paper seeks to contribute to bridging this gap. The paper recommends that studies are conducted on how individual churches (denominations) and other ecumenical bodies besides the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) and the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) have engaged politics in Ghana and to analyse their approaches and impact. Keywords: The Church, Politics, Engagement, Motivation, Ghana.