During our visit to the Basel Mission (BM) cemetery at Abokobi, Reverend Samuel Sowah, the deputy pastor of the local congregation, recounted a snippet of Paul Mohenu’s history. Standing by Mohenu’s grave, I could not shake the feeling of disbelief about Mohenu’s sudden transformation that the reverend narrated, and I yearned to hear his story first-hand. At that moment, I thought of Birago Diop’s poem “Vanity”: “…who will hear our voices…sad complaining voices… they have left on the earth their cries.” These poignant words reminded me of the silent cries of those whose tales remain untold, or told wrongly, like that of Deide Ashikishan, the woman on the fifty-pesewa coin.[1] At the BM cemetery I encountered an oversimplified version of Mohenu’s story, a triumphalist tale of Christianity’s conquest of African indigenous practices. His story has been distorted to fit a predetermined narrative of virtue, peeling off anything worth acknowledging about African indigenous religions, beliefs and practices. In this essay, I seek to critique such triumphalist oral tradition as well as historiography, foremost Mohenu’s biography by E. M. L. Odjidja, and the triumphalist narrative of Christianity that they project, which perpetuates a skewed perspective and marginalizes indigenous beliefs and practices.
In many parts of Africa, beliefs clustered under the umbrella term of “traditional religion” are based on the idea of the supernatural, the supreme being, higher gods and lesser gods, the use of inanimate objects as representations of spirits, the practice of magic, traditional healing, and medicine. So-called traditional healers in Ghana used divinations, magic, incantations, cultism, talismans, magic rings, beads, and amulets to heal the sick. The common thread was the use of “magico-religious act and symbols in diagnosis”.[2] Patrick Twumasi, a Ghanaian sociologist, defines traditional medicine as a mix of herbal, mystical, and some societal elements basically reliant on the use of indigenous knowledge.[3] Products of traditional healers were the concoction from tree backs, roots, leaves, seeds and the ultimate ingredient, a spiritual touch.[4] The arrival of missionaries impacted traditional religious practices.

While his grave in Figure 1 indicates Mohenu’s birth year to be 1813, literature cites 1809, highlighting the challenge of piecing together accurate historical accounts from distorted sources. As Reverend Samuel recounted, Mohenu’s mother Adukoi was infertile, but when she finally bore a child, she was advised to name him Mohenu, symbolizing an obstruction to the child’s potential death and subsequent loss of other children.[5] However, whether this symbolism holds historical accuracy or is merely a cherished tale remains uncertain. After his mother’s demise when he was twelve, Mohenu adopted his father’s disciplined lifestyle working as a hunter and farmer.[6] Later, he relocated to Abladzei near Abokobi to settle with his brother. At Abladzei, the Mohenu family experienced a series of tragedies, with four of his siblings dying. The last of his brothers died of a strange sickness incurable with traditional remedies. As his hopes shattered, Mohenu questioned the power of traditional healers.[7] Later, he reportedly saw traditional healing as a way to make money,[8] and in some years to come we would call him wulɔmɔ (priest). It seems contradictory that Mohenu would dismiss traditional healing as a sham yet later excel in herbal treatment. The claim that he saw traditional healing as a means of making money probably reflects biases against indigenous practices rather than Mohenu’s true motivations.
Following Odjidja’s account, Mohenu began concocting herbal treatments. He later made public displays of magic tricks whenever he was possessed by Dzabaa, a supernatural being.[9] However, Mohenu’s practice declined after the BM settled at Abokobi in 1854 following the British bombardment of Osu, where the mission had had its first base. With the arrival of the BM, Mohenu’s life changed dramatically. The missionaries propagated the gospel and proselytized the people who revered him. He became upset and frustrated the missionaries by damaging most of the mission houses. Subsequently, some of his followers, including those who had witnessed his healing prowess, turned their backs on him accusing him of deceit and manipulation: “Your work is a cheat, you are fooling the people.”[10] The sudden shift in perception regarding Mohenu’s healing abilities raises questions about the reliability of oral tradition. It also suggests a shift in interpretation of Mohenu’s actions possibly influenced by the missionaries through ideological indoctrination.

Upon converting to Christianity, Mohenu adopted the name Paul, akin to Saul who became Paul, the apostle. His transformation was triggered when he fell sick and was unable to heal himself. While ill, he dreamt about Jesus cautioning him to repent. Attributing his subsequent recovery to God, he converted to Christianity.[11] He was baptized on 11 October 1857 as Paul Mohenu, and ceased his traditional practices.[12] Following his baptism, the caption of the photo from the BM archives in Figure 2 labels him as “A candidate for baptism, a former fetish priest, sitting on his fetishes”. This emphasis on Mohenu’s association with “fetishes” evokes negative connotations and reflects the missionaries’ biased perceptions of indigenous religious and medical practices. The captioning diminishes Mohenu’s humanity and agency by reducing him to a stereotype or caricature of his former role. It becomes evident that the idea portrayed is prioritizing Western Christian norms and marginalizing indigenous spiritual traditions.
Besides, Mohenu’s charismatic and defiant traits, cultivated during his time as a traditional healer were not discarded with his conversion; instead, they were repurposed to serve his new mission as a Christian evangelist. Existing publications on Mohenu overlook the fact that his abilities to captivate audiences came from the same qualities that once made him a respected figure in the traditional healing circle.
The gaps in the use of oral sources in telling Mohenu’s story are evident. Odjidja mentions two accounts, one simple and the other “longish”.[13] The people who often tell the stories read and are told these same narratives that have lived and evolved with alterations. The inferences made from the transformation of Mohenu is the “demonization” of African indigenous religions, beliefs, and practices. I think there is a need for a clearer understanding of Mohenu’s narrative and refraining from imposing biased interpretations that denigrate African indigenous practices and glorify Western Christianity. I invite everyone who reads this to question the prevailing narrative of triumphalist Christianity and its impact on indigenous beliefs and spirituality.