In an era where many places all hopes in clerics for directions and answers to uncertainties about their lives, a Ghanaian professional Stage Illusionist, Vodu and Afa Priest has revealed that pastors, prophets and other members of the five-fold ministry are among the many customers who visit his shrine for consultations and spiritual guidance.
Christopher Voncujovi, a voodoo practitioner and founder of Afrikan Magick Temple, recently told GhanaWeb that his outfit is not limited to specific people, adding that politicians, prostitutes, policemen, thieves, Muslims, and Hindus also pay him a visit on a regular basis for help.
“Pastors are coming, Reverend Fathers are coming, ashawo is coming, thieves are coming, policeman is coming, politician is coming. Everybody comes. Everybody is human being. Whether you are a father, a pastor, a politician, ashawo, thieves, you have needs. You need certain things in your life. So it’s not limited (sic),” he justified.
Voncujovi said these people, from all walks of life, come to him to assist with solutions to various life’s setbacks including financial stability, marital issues, prosperity, healing, bareness/childlessness, and sorrow.
“When people come here for consultation, they come for almost everything that worries human beings. People come because they want their job to be okay. People may come because they want a wife. People may come because they want a good husband. People may come because they are sick.
People may come because they want something that is not right. People come because they want to learn about themselves- They want to know themselves. They want to see what is wrong with them. Why others are succeeding but they are not succeeding.”
He further maintained that his role is to “fix” absurdities in the lives of people hence, he shuns away from religion and opens his doors to anyone who wants to see “things move” in their lives.
“Muslims are coming, Hindus are coming, Christians are coming. We try as much as possible to cut away from religion.” he indicated.
According to a Ghana tabloid, Voncujovi’s teachings focus on developing individual spirituality, not a religious doctrine that will dictate how practitioners should act and think. He believes that this dogmatic approach creates spiritual dependence on a personality or organization that hinders true spiritual awakening.
He hopes that his students will positively impact the world in their respective communities after his teachings.
Déjà vu?
Voncujovi’s revelation that some men of God go to him for help and spiritual guidance comes at a time where a raft of reports have alleged that most popular televangelists and contemporary prophets in Africa go to West Africa to source their powers.
A 2015 report by another Ghanaian paper the Daily Guide, established that over 1 700 pastors and “men of God” from different parts of Africa were approaching the seemingly most powerful “sangoma” in Ghana for powers to perform miracles.
So authoritative is the much-dreaded fetish Priest Nana Kwaku Bonsam of Ghana that he openly and publicly dares any of his critics to challenge him in a battle of supernatural powers, the paper wrote.
Nana Kwaku Bonsam has got his shrine at Sa-Peiman, a village on the outskirts of Nsawam in the eastern region of Ghana.
His god is called Kofi-Kofi and is the one who provides him with supernatural powers that are desperately needed by different pastors from all walks of life.
The Ghanaian newspaper reported that after visiting Nana Kwaku Bonsam, hundreds of top-of-the-range cars were seen parked at his shrine as various prominent businesspeople and celebrated church founders gathered to secure his services.
The fetish priest is by no means a poor man, as anyone who enters his shrine for consultation pays an amount of about US$5 000 which excludes the cost of the rituals.
Narrating in an interview how powerful he is, the much-dreaded man boasted of his capabilities;
“I’m a fetish priest; a powerful one of course, and I use my powers to heal the sick, help people who want to travel abroad, help traders get better sales, protect people from fraudsters, disempower witches and wizards or help people who have one problem or the other.
“I am well-known for the wonders I perform in this country so I receive people from all parts of the country and even people from other countries,” he said.
The self-styled sangoma was quoted in an interview as having said he once produced “miracle money” before a highly-respected traditional chief, a phenomenon so ubiquitous in some contemporary protestant churches.
“I produced money, a gold watch, handkerchief and other things there and that was so wonderful before the chief of Techiman. At the palace, I was able to plant cocoa seeds and they germinated on that same day; I planted a mango seed and it germinated the same day and I killed a house-fly, resurrected it and made it fly round for all to see,” he said.
Still on “miracle money”, Nana Kwaku Bonsam said when he started performing his “miracles”, anything that he touched turned into money.
“Anything I touched turned into money and I even stood on a fresh egg, which did not break,” he said.
The sangoma confirmed that indeed there are pastors who have, and still approach him seeking powers to start prominent churches and perform miracles.
“Yes, it is true. I give powers to perform miracles to a lot of pastors. Currently, I have over 1700 and something pastors; I might need to look into my register for the figure. When they come to me I give golden rings to some of them after taking them through a ritual bath. I give them the ring and a Bible and the power I want them to get is what I put in the ring.
“I give some the power to heal, others to see into the future and or the past, or do anything I want them to do. It helps their churches get more members who always want to see signs and wonders,” he revealed.
Asked if he would expose the false pastors who acquired powers from him to perform miracles, the sangoma said:
“I am only against those false pastors who have come to me for powers and yet are not keeping their mouths shut but rather making provocative statements against me. I am also against those who have gone for powers from other shrines yet preach against us and do not abide by our rules.”
The fetish priest attacked flamboyant pastors who enrich themselves at the expense of their followers.
“Some of them are using the church for fashion parade. Listen to how they preach in their churches and how they mention the names of their church members who have Aids. Why are they riding in a lot of cars when their church members are hungry? The Bible itself says we should all bring our belongings, sell and share with the poor and needy.
“Was that not why Jesus beat up the gamblers in the temple? Some pastors today are virtually being worshipped by their church members when Jesus himself was a humble person,” he said.
He said if he wanted he could do like any other false pastor who disguises using the bible.
“I was born Stephen Osei Mensah. I was not born a fetish priest. I was attending church when I got possessed and if I wanted to do what others (false prophets) are doing I would have attached my fetish to my Bible and called myself Reverend Stephen Osei Mensah,” he said.
Several Zimbabweans have been to Ghana and other West African countries over the past few years. Some of them returned back home and became so powerful in their line of industry, the paper concluded without revealing the cleric’s names.
“Makandiwa Consults Sangomas”
In 2018, while battling a multi-million dollar legal wrangle over “debt cancellation miracle” false prophecy, United Family International Church (UFIC) leader Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa was accused of allegedly consulting traditional healers and stage-managing prophecies by their former congregants Mr and Mrs Mashangwa.
In an opposing affidavit to Prophet Makandiwa’s application for dismissal of a US$6, 5 million lawsuit, the Mr Upenyu Mashangwa said the preacher should appear in court where evidence will be led to prove that he is a “fake prophet”.
“Respondents (Prophet Makandiwa and wife, Ruth) have in the main matter made allegations against the present applicants.
We must establish those allegations. We intend to lead evidence for instance which shows that the applicants obtain powers from their association with the occult, that they consult traditional healers, have people which they use in their church to obtain information from congregants and which Makandiwa passes on to unsuspecting congregants as prophecy.
The affirmation is as false as the many ‘prophecies’ on the basis upon which we now sue Mr Makandiwa as a common fraudster,”
part of the affidavit reads.
Mr Mashangwa says Prophet Makandiwa must appear in court where he will prove that the preacher “is a false prophet and has no relationship with God” and “that despite knowing that to be the case, he lies to people that he has communion with the Divine”.
“I want Makandiwa to say under oath that he is a prophet of God. I want him to tell the court how his powers of prophecy were transmitted to his wife. I want him to explain why he took advantage of the trust we had reposed in him.
I also want him to explain the kind of magic that he used on us all this while and to rebut the suggestion that he consults the occult. How can all this be decided on affidavits?
I finally indicate that all these issues that relate to whether Makandiwa is a false prophet are issues that are going to be put to him by my counsel who is not only competent in law but I believe probably knows more of the Word than Makandiwa,”
the businessman told the High Court.
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