Angel Daniel Bishop Obinim seems to have bitten more than he can chew this time—as three new people have have filed a new lawsuit against him for flogging of two of his church members.
Nana Oye Lithur, a human rights lawyer and the sector Minister for Ghana’s Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has filed a complaint against him at the Accra Regional Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) Office.
Now, private legal practitioner who pursues human rights issues, Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu, has together with two other people, sued the International Godsway Church (IGC) and its founder, Bishop Daniel Obinim, for the alleged assault of two teenagers during a service–document above.
Already, the director of Amnesty International in Ghana, Lawrence Amesu, has categorically condemned the actions of Bishop Daniel Obinim.
Speaking on 3Fm, Amesu said the Bishop’s actions should be roundly condemned, and that he has to be arrested for his conduct.
“…For Amnesty International, we think that Bishop Obinim is going beyond his jurisdiction at this time. This is a criminal offence [and] he should be arrested by the Police.” Amesu said.
“So it is up to us now, at this time to come together to put more pressure on the police to arrest Bishop Obimim” he added.
For his part, aides of the bishop say he was justified in his actions as the bible says “Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.”
Chris-Vincent Agyapong Febiri, Editor of GhanaCelebrities.Com and a Human Rights advocate wrote an op-ed this morning, stating that irrespective of what the Bible says which Obinim claims to have relied on, Ghana is not a theocracy and therefore you cannot use the Bible as a justification for human rights abuse.
Chris-Vincent stated among other things that:
Beyond the fact that the Bible is obviously outmoded, Ghana’s not a theocratic state, ruled in the name of God or a god.
Ghana is a liberal constitutional state and even though religion is permitted by Ghana’s Laws, the commandments and moral codes of these religions do not supersede the existing laws of the land. Thus, people’s actions, irrespective of where it took place should be judged by the laws of the land and not what their holy book, be it the Bible or Quran dictates.
The Children’s Act, 1998, section 6(2) and (3) reads:
(2) Every child has the right to life, dignity, respect, leisure, liberty, health, education and shelter from his parents.
(3) Every parent has rights and responsibilities whether imposed by law or otherwise towards his child which include the duty to – (a) protect the child from neglect, discrimination, violence, abuse, exposure to physical and moral hazards and oppression;
The same Act, section 13 states:
(1) No person shall subject a child to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment including any cultural practice which dehumanises or is injurious to the physical and mental well-being of a child.
(2) No correction of a child is justifiable which is unreasonable in kind or in degree according to the age, physical and mental condition of the child and no correction is justifiable if the child by reason of tender age or otherwise is incapable of understanding the purpose of the correction.
Apart from the above, there are countless human rights instruments which protects Ghanaian children—and which prohibit abuse or the sort of public whipping Obinim was engaged in.
It’s therefore unacceptable or criminal for a Ghanaian to act outside the scope of the Law and then quote the Bible as the book that sanctioned his actions. It’s not of any good either if the person says God revealed to him to kill another or do something that violates the laws of Ghana.
If what Bishop Obinim is doing is not checked, it would open a shocking floodgate where Muslims can also rely on the Hadith or even the Quran to flog or stone adulterous women in Ghana. After all, their religious books somewhat sanctions this.
Not long ago, a Ghanaian Member of Parliament boldly suggested in parliament during a Bill deliberation that ‘adulterous women’ should be stoned—and that this punishment which is being used in many religious States who regard themselves as ‘States of God’ should be adopted in Ghana.
We live in Ghana, with a set of laws as binding instruments and regulator of our conducts. That’s what we should respect. Any other book, be it the Bible, Torah, Quran or whatever which may order something that contradicts the laws of Ghana ought to be ignored.
You are permitted to hold and practice your religion–provided you do so within the laws of Ghana. Your holy book is not a warrant to violate the laws of the land.