By Philip Antoh
In a plot twist that has shaken the pews and sent shockwaves through the airwaves, a slick-talking radio marriage counsellor who paraded himself as a man of God has been busted for allegedly turning a minor into a sex slave for four years and uploading the evidence for the world to see.
Rev. Dr. Ebenezer Conduah, a self-styled clergyman and international relationship guru, is currently cooling his heels in police custody after an Accra court slapped him with a three-week remand order yesterday. The reverend gentleman, it appears, was not just saving souls he was preying on them.
While Ghanaians were gearing up to wave the flag and celebrate 69 years of independence on March 6, a different kind of liberation was taking place. In a dawn operation that would make for a gripping Netflix documentary, the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) and the Ghana Police Service joined forces to pull the plug on Conduah’s double life.
The man who built a brand dishing out marital advice on radio had been secretly building a disgusting portfolio of another kind allegedly sexually abusing a girl from the tender age of 13 until she turned 17, and posting the vile content on international porn sites.
It was Communications Minister Samuel Nartey George who broke the news on his Facebook page, and he didn’t hold back. The hard-nosed politician turned cyber cop-in-chief revealed that CSA’s forensic team had uncovered recordings and online postings by the accused on foreign pornography websites.
“The abuse of a 17-year-old minor had gone on for the past four years,” the Minister revealed, his words dripping with disgust. The accused now faces the full wrath of Act 1038, specifically Sections 62 and 63, which deal with child sexual abuse material.
Here is the million-dollar question that has Ghanaians scratching their heads: How many more of these “Men of God” are hiding behind flowing robes and pious titles while living double lives that would make Satan blush?
The New Republic newspaper has chronicled a disturbing pattern of clergymen trading their Bibles for handcuffs. From financial fraud to sexual escapades, the list of pastoral perverts grows longer by the day. Conduah’s case is particularly stomach-churning because of its premeditated nature this was not a moment of weakness but a calculated, four-year campaign of abuse, complete with international distribution.
In his official statement, Minister George pulled no punches: “In the early hours of March 6, as the Nation prepared to celebrate our 69th Independence Day, the hardworking team at the Cyber Security Authority Ghana effected the arrest of one Rev Dr Ebenezer Conduah in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service.”
He described the suspect as a “self-styled radio International marriage counsellor”—a title that now carries sinister overtones.
The Minister also served notice to every cyber criminal hiding in plain sight: “If you break our cyber laws, we will find you and hold you accountable, no matter who you are. For God and Country.”
What Next?
For now, Conduah will spend three weeks at the pleasure of the police as investigators dig deeper into his digital footprint. The court wants the full picture before handing down any verdict. But one thing is already clear: the reverend’s days of dispensing marital wisdom from a radio studio are well and truly over.
As for the 17-year-old victim, she carries scars that no amount of counselling not even from a fake “Dr” can erase. The question hanging in the air is simple: who failed her? The system? The church? Or a society that puts men of God beyond reproach until it’s too late?
The New Republic will keep watching. After all, the devil, as they say, is in the details.