BY GRACE ZIGAH
What began as a heated disagreement over the Ghanaian entertainment industry has resurfaced years later in a more personal and theological dimension, with former Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Mark Okraku-Mantey openly questioning Prophet Kofi Oduro’s credentials as a prophet.
The latest confrontation has revived memories of the pair’s public clash over the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) in 2019, when Oduro criticised the award scheme and parts of the entertainment industry, while Okraku-Mantey mounted a strong defence of showbiz and creative professionals.
This time, however, Okraku-Mantey has shifted the focus from the entertainment industry to the preacher’s use of the title “prophet”.
During a recent media appearance on Movement TV, Okraku-Mantey questioned whether Oduro had ever delivered a prophecy that could substantiate the title he uses.
“Kofi Oduro claims to be a prophet but has anybody heard any prophecy from him before? He doesn’t even have one prophecy in his career, he is only walking around with the Prophetic title,” Okraku-Mantey said.
The statement has generated discussion on social media, with some people questioning Okraku-Mantey’s criticism while others have echoed his challenge. Others have argued that the role of a prophet should not necessarily be measured by the number of publicly known predictions made about future events.
The roots of the disagreement stretch back to May 2019, when Prophet Kofi Oduro publicly criticised the VGMA and its board.
Oduro described aspects of the awards system in strongly religious terms and accused its organisers of promoting what he characterised as a satanic agenda. His comments drew a response from Okraku-Mantey, who was then a veteran member of the VGMA board.
Okraku-Mantey rejected the broader portrayal of showbiz as inherently ungodly and argued that the creative arts industry should not be dismissed because of the conduct of some individuals or practices within it.
He stated that “not everything in show-biz is demonic”, while urging religious leaders to stop portraying the entire creative arts sector negatively.
The disagreement was not merely about an awards ceremony. It exposed a wider difference in how the two men viewed the relationship between Christianity and Ghana’s entertainment industry.
At the time, Okraku-Mantey also questioned what he considered an inconsistency in the church’s relationship with the entertainment industry.
His argument was that gospel musicians associated with churches also depended on the same entertainment ecosystem, including music industry structures and award platforms, to promote their work and reach wider audiences.
He therefore challenged the notion that the industry could simply be dismissed as demonic while gospel musicians continued to operate within the same ecosystem.
Seven years after that public confrontation, the disagreement has taken a different direction.
Okraku-Mantey’s latest comments no longer centre on VGMA rules or the entertainment industry. Instead, he is questioning the basis on which Oduro is described as a prophet.
That has introduced a theological dimension to a feud that originally revolved around music, awards and the relationship between religion and showbiz.
Okraku-Mantey’s argument is essentially that a prophetic title should be accompanied by evidence of prophetic declarations or revelations. His critics, however, have argued that prophecy in Christianity cannot necessarily be reduced to making predictions about future events.
