Afrikania backs restrictions on preaching in moving vehicles, cites religious denigration

The Afrikania Mission has backed restrictions on preaching in moving commercial vehicles, arguing that the practice can cause confrontations among passengers and expose African Traditional Religion and its adherents to denigratory remarks.

The Mission’s position comes amid public debate over Regulation 141 of the Road Traffic Regulations, 2026 (L.I. 2519), which prohibits preaching and hawking in public or commercial vehicles while they are in motion.

The provision forms part of an updated regulatory framework that prescribes tougher sanctions for the activities. Offenders face a fine of between 10 and 50 penalty units, imprisonment for up to eight months, or both.

However, the government announced on October 9 that it had suspended implementation of the provision following public concerns about its implications for religious expression and evangelism. President John Dramani Mahama had also clarified that the restriction applied to moving vehicles, not vehicles stationed at terminals.

The restriction itself is not entirely new. The previous Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 (L.I. 2180), also prohibited preaching and hawking in public or commercial vehicles while in motion, although the revised regulations provide for a tougher maximum custodial sentence.

Against this background, the Head of the Afrikania Mission, Osofo Komfo Atsu Kove, said the Mission’s concerns went beyond noise pollution to include what he described as discriminatory and provocative statements directed at other religious traditions.

“They openly shout statements like 'abusumsum ye nkwasiasem' to wit, 'idol worship is foolishness', directly denigrating African Traditional Religion and its adherents,” he said.

Osofo Komfo Atsu Kove explained that the Mission considered such conduct discriminatory and provocative, arguing that commercial vehicles were public spaces and should not be treated as church auditoriums or used for Christian practices such as preaching.

He warned that allowing one religious group to use moving commercial vehicles for evangelism could encourage other religious groups to do the same, potentially creating disorder.

“If we allow one religious group to mount public vehicles to propagate their faith, it will be chaotic if all other religious groups - Traditionalists, Muslims, and others - also decide to jump onto public vehicles to preach their religion,” he said.

He added that passengers should not be subjected to religious messages against their will, particularly when they have limited freedom to leave a moving vehicle.

“It is funny for someone to be chasing others with their belief even onto a public vehicle. We have witnessed several confrontations on buses because passengers feel trapped and disrespected. Freedom of religion must not become freedom to harass others in a public space,” he said.

The Afrikania Mission is therefore calling on the Ministry of Transport, the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and other relevant authorities to ensure that public transport spaces remain peaceful and respectful of Ghana’s religious diversity.

“We therefore call on the Ministry of Transport, GPRTU, and relevant authorities to enforce regulations that keep public commercial transport neutral, peaceful, and respectful of Ghana's religion,” he said.