President John Dramani Mahama has appealed to religious leaders and their followers to exercise restraint as recent incidents involving Christian and Muslim figures raise concerns about Ghana’s tradition of peaceful religious coexistence.
Speaking on Thursday, August 20, 2026, at the opening of the 32nd Biennial General Council Meeting of the Assemblies of God, Ghana, at Gomoa Fetteh, President Mahama said disagreements involving religious figures should not be allowed to develop into wider tensions between faith communities.
His remarks come days after the National Peace Council and religious leaders separately called for calm and responsible public commentary following incidents involving alleged religiously offensive statements and reported physical assaults.
President Mahama described the recent incidents involving a pastor and an imam as unfortunate and warned against allowing them to define relations between Christians, Muslims and other religious groups in Ghana.
He said the country’s religious diversity has historically coexisted with shared families, schools, workplaces and public institutions.
“Such incidents must never be allowed to define relations between Christians and other religions in this country,” Mahama said.
The President also drew a distinction between the constitutional right to freedom of religion and expression and conduct that could provoke violence or target another person’s beliefs.
He said religious conviction should not become a justification for provocation, intimidation, assault or vigilantism.
The President’s warning follows a series of incidents that have prompted calls from Ghana’s security and peace institutions for restraint.
On August 14, Inspector-General of Police Christian Tetteh Yohuno met representatives of Christian and Muslim groups in Accra for an interfaith engagement. The meeting focused on recent incidents involving alleged religious insults, calls for extrajudicial violence and an assault involving a handcuffed Christian cleric.
The Ghana Police Service said individuals linked to the separate incidents had been arrested and were on bail while investigations continued.
The National Peace Council has also urged religious leaders, politicians, civil society organisations and media practitioners to avoid inflammatory commentary and premature conclusions, particularly regarding videos circulating online.
That caution is important because the incidents remain matters for investigation and, where applicable, the courts. They should not be treated as evidence of a broader conflict between Ghana’s Christian and Muslim communities.
Mahama urged pastors, imams and other religious leaders to take particular care with statements made from pulpits, mosques and social media platforms.
He warned that remarks made in emotionally charged circumstances can spread quickly online and create consequences beyond what the original speaker may have intended.
He also said religious leaders, including the National Chief Imam, were expected to help promote reconciliation and a peaceful resolution to the matters involving the individuals concerned.
At the same time, he stressed that the law must be allowed to operate fairly and impartially.
The President further encouraged religious leaders to help younger Ghanaians understand religious diversity as a source of national strength rather than division.
