Claim: A YouTuber has alleged that the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) founder, Dr Mensa Otabil’s caution to the youth not to trade their destiny for a mobile phone was a reply to Ghana’s Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s promise to encourage the use of smart devices.
Verdict: Misleading. JUSTFACT GHANA’s investigations have shown that the respected clergyman, Dr. Mensa Otabil’s caution to the country’s youth was not a direct response to Dr. Bawumia’s campaign promise to make smart devices accessible.
Background:
Speaking to supporters during his campaign tour, the flagbearer of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, said he would make the acquisition of smart devices easy and accessible when he is elected President on December 7, 2024.
“We will make access to mobile phones affordable. We will make arrangements with mobile companies to give phones to the citizens to pay [the purchase price] in bits every month [ranging from] GHS1 and GH2 until you pay the purchased price [this is] because we need everybody to have a smart device,” he said in the Twi dialect see a video of the campaign from minutes 0:46 to 1:10 posted by Accra-based TV3.
However, a message by the clergyman, Dr Mensa Otabil, to the youth during his church’s Greater Works Conference held in Accra is alleged to be a direct reply to Dr Bawumia’s campaign promise.
See here, here and here for social media posts linking Dr Otabil’s sermon to the promise by Ghana’s Vice President.
“Your destiny is better and greater than iPhone 15 because one day not only would you own [but] you are going to be a manufacturer of those phones. You have more phones than you can use. Don’t sell your destiny for a phone. You are bigger than that, you are better than that, you are greater than that,” Dr Otabil said in the video posted on YouTube from minutes 0:02 to 0:32.
Investigations:
A content analysis conducted by JUSTFACT GHANA revealed that the clergyman’s pulpit message was not a reaction to Dr Bawumia’s campaign promise to make smart devices accessible in the country.
Also, a Google keyword search conducted by JUSTFACT GHANA has shown that no credible media organisation in the country has reported about the alleged association.
Conclusion:
It is not true that Dr Mensa Otabil’s message to Ghanaian youth not to “sell their destiny” for a mobile phone was a reaction to the NPP flagbearer, Dr Bawumia’s campaign message to make smart devices accessible and affordable.
