Christian Religiosity and Corruption in Ghana: A Case Study of Selected Churches in Hohoe Municipality

Christian Religiosity and Corruption in Ghana: A Case Study of Selected Churches in Hohoe Municipality

Abraham Ofoe Agbenu , John Kwaku Opoku & Jonathan Edward Tetteh Kuwornu-Adjaottor

Issue: Vol.6 No.8 Article 33 pp.1733 – 1743
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20256833 | Published online 29th July, 2025
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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ABSTRACT

The menace of corruption has been a multidimensional ethical and socio-economic phenomenon which has posed challenges to the Ghanaian society for many years. Considering the 71.3% of the Ghanaian population affiliated with Christianity and Christianity’s moral advocacy for integrity, honesty, compassion, and accountability, it is prudent to expect the country to be void of corruption and its associated repercussions on the socio-economic and religio-cultural facets of the Ghanaian society. However, this is not the case in the country as corruption has surged and dented the moral fabric of the country. This study thus delved into the intricate interplay between Christianity and the surge in corruption in Ghana, to elucidate the correlation between Christian religiosity and the upsurge in corruption in the nation. To reach this goal, the study engaged Ghanaian Christians from the St. Augustine Catholic Church, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Revival Assemblies of God Church and Apostles Revelation Society in the Hohoe municipality of the Volta Region of Ghana. It also sought the thoughts of the clergy and professional Christians in authority (the Municipal Chief Executive, Municipal Director of Education and Municipal Police Commander in the Hohoe municipality). The Centrality of Religiosity Scale (CRS) was applied to examine the level of religiosity of the selected respondents. The present study discovered a divergent and contradictory correlation between the very high religiosity of Ghanaian Christians and the surge incorruption in the country. The findings revealed that both individual Christians and the Church are contributors to the surge in corruption in the country. A situation that is dreadful to the Christian faith and the image of the Church. The study therefore proposes the need for Christians and the church in Ghana to arise, put on its moral garment and fight against the plague of corruption.

Keywords – Christianity, Religiosity, Corruption

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ABOUT AUTHOR(S)

Abraham Ofoe Agbenu recently completed his PhD at the Department of Religious Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi Ghana. He is also a Tutor at the St Francis College of Education, Hohoe, Ghana. His research focuses on Religion and Society. He holds a BA in Biblical Studies from the All Nations University, Koforidua, Ghana, and an MPhil in the Study of Religions from the University of Ghana, Legon.

John Kwaku Opoku is an Associate Professor at the Department of Religious Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). He is a Catholic Priest at the Catholic Archdiocese of Kumasi. He holds a Ph.D. in Theology and Health (Radboud Universiteit-Nijmegen). His areas of specialization are Pastoral Theology, Bioethics, and Religion and Health. He is also a member of the European Centre of Research Training and Development (ECRTD), United Kingdom.

Jonathan Edward Tetteh Kuwornu-Adjaottor, PhD, is an Associate Professor, New Testament and Mother Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics, Department of Religious Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi-Ghana.

TO CITE ARTICLE

Agbenu, Abraham Ofoe, John Kwaku Opoku, and Jonathan Edward Tetteh Kuwornu-Adjaottor. “Christian Religiosity and Corruption in Ghana: A Case Study of Selected Churches in Hohoe Municipality.” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 6, no. 8 (2025): 1733–45. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20256833.