Insiders reveal process began in 2024
By Leo Nelson
Prophet Emmanuel Badu Kobi is selling his Tema Glorious Wave Church International. That much is now established. Why he is selling and whether the Mahama administration has anything to do with it has become a battlefield of competing narratives.
Last week, a man claiming to be a junior pastor of 23 years went viral on TikTok. His message was devastating: Badu Kobi’s association with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had destroyed his ministry. “When you follow politicians, you end up selling your church,” he declared. The asking price, he alleged: $1.5 million.
The implication was clear the Prophet had been abandoned by the very political masters he once championed. Financial distress had forced him to liquidate assets.
Now, new information emerging from sources close to the man of God tells a different story. According to these accounts, the attempted sale has “absolutely nothing to do with politics”. The true reason? A prophetic revelation.
Badu Kobi, the sources claim, received divine instruction to leave the current location entirely. The decision to sell property began in 2024 well before the NDC’s decisive electoral victory.
The delay was not political but bureaucratic: some documents from the Tema Development Company (TDC) were incomplete. Those issues have now been resolved, paving the way for the transaction.
The sources insist the Prophet is not in financial distress, nor is he being pressured by any government.
Why does this matter? Because Badu Kobi is no ordinary pastor. He is one of Ghana’s most politically consequential prophets known for his open affiliation with the NDC and, more recently, with President John Dramani Mahama.
Unlike the past, when men of God who backed losing candidates often became “state enemies”, the Mahama administration has institutionalised its relationship with the clergy. The Office of the Presidential Envoy for Interfaith Relations, headed by Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, ensures direct presidential access for prophets and pastors.
The sources argue that the government has “no business making life unbearable” for a man of God so close to it. On the contrary, they say, the President has helped many clerics who sacrificed personal comfort for his return to power.
The alleged junior pastor who triggered the controversy has not been formally identified or authorised to speak for the church. His claim that the NDC “abandoned” Badu Kobi is directly contradicted by the sources. They say the government acknowledges the Prophet’s contributions and has no issues with him.
But the damage is done. In Ghana’s hyper-sensitive political environment, where every leaked video becomes a weapon, the allegation that a pro-NDC prophet is selling his church due to financial ruin has already circulated widely.
Even if the sale was prompted by a revelation, the questions remain. Why now? Why is the Prophet not publicly clarifying matters himself? And what of the junior pastor’s claim is he a disgruntled insider, a political operative, or simply a truth-teller dismissed by those in power?
The sources say the sale is purely personal. But in Ghana, where the lines between spiritual authority and political capital are famously blurred, nothing is ever purely personal. Badu Kobi’s church building may find a new owner. But the story of how politics entered the pulpit and whether it can ever truly leave is far from closed.