Three Times TB Joshua Made Headlines In Ghana
The death of renowned Nigerian Christian preacher Temitope Balogun Joshua, or Prophet T.B. Joshua, was announced at dawn via his social media accounts to vastly mixed reactions on the African continent and beyond.
He was the founder and leader of The Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), which reputedly had a presence in more than 50 countries in Africa, Europe and North America.
The headquarters of his church was in Lagos and was recognised by authorities as a tourist attraction that raked in revenue for local businesses when people from all over the world came to the megachurch.
Although the cause of his death was not announced on the official social media channels owned by SCOAN, it was said the preacher had died shortly after a church meeting on June 5.
Joshua was recognised across Sub-Saharan Africa, and his church-owned Emmanuel TV station, which broadcast his Sunday morning services, among other church content, was watched by millions. The session where he purportedly performed miraculous healings was people’s favourite.
Another factor of popular attraction for Joshua was the fact that his SCOAN was a church known to host guests who ranged from politicians to diplomats and from actors to sportsmen and women. This recurring situation gave a lot of credence to Joshua’s ministries.
Ghana was one country where Joshua once was seen to have a lot of influence. This piece enumerates three times Joshua made the headlines in Ghana.
- The friendship between Atta Mills and Joshua
There was a very conspicuous friendship between the former president of Ghana, the late John Evans Atta Mills and Joshua. The former Ghanaian leader was an avowed Christian who made many public statements that he only thought of himself as a steward of God’s, even as president.
The friendship was a reference point for many detractors of the president, who at times mocked policies of the Atta Mills government as directives from Joshua. This included the move to bar traditional Ghanaian priests from offering prayers at some state events despite being a practice encouraged by governments since 1993.
2. Predicting the Black Satelittes’ World Cup win
Ghana’s 2009 under-20 World Cup-winning coach, Sellas Tetteh, revealed that Joshua’s religious insights contributed to his team winning the title for the first time for the country.
The country was already known as perennial top performers in the younger FIFA tournaments. However, it had never won it. All of this changed in 2009 with Opoku Agyemang, Andre Ayew and Jonathan Mensah when Ghana beat Brazil on penalties in the final in Cairo, Egypt.
Tetteh went on record, telling Kwame Sefa-Kayi of Peace FM: “He told me we would win the trophy before the tournament and on the day of the game he again predicted it…I believed in him as a friend and a prophet, but I also believed we would win the trophy…to be honest with you and in the name of God, he even predicted the red card booking by the referee to our player (Daniel Addo) and subsequently warned us of the tough times that will befall in the hands of the Brazilians.”
3. The collapse of SCOAN building in Spintex
In 2013, four people were reported by police to have died after a rush to receive “holy water” at the SCOAN branch at Spintex, Accra resulted in a stampede. At the time, the spokesperson for the Ghana Police, Freeman Tetteh, told the BBC, the church “was caught by surprise”.
After the investigations of the incident, conclusions stated the church had been built with very little consideration for fire escapes, for instance.