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Former flagbearer Aspirant Dr Arthur Kobina Kennedy has said Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams� cedi prayer critics are wrong. He imputes that their action smacks of hypocrisy. ��It is astonishing that we would deride prayers when even in the last elections, God seemed so central�. He said: �Whether they were genuine or not, our two major parties both acknowledged the centrality of God. One candidate claimed that: �The battle is the Lord�s� while the other asserted that: �Nyame na osi hene�, meaning �God chooses leaders�. According to him, �Indeed, even our national anthem sounds like a prayer�. �God bless our homeland Ghana� - �Aside from these obvious confessions of God�s omnipotence, I believe that we Ghanaians must realise that we have a special place in God�s universe and that we are a chosen nation�, Dr Kennedy asserted in an article titled �faith and Ghana�. The article is a subtle defense of Archbishop Duncan-Williams� prayer for the local cedi to rise in value against the dollar and other major international currencies. Critics took the Christian Action Faith Ministries� Founder and General Overseer to the cleaners after his prayer. Former head of the policy monitoring and evaluation unit at the presidency and Ambassador-Designate, Dr Tony Aidoo, described the prayer as �comic relief�. Dr. Kennedy, however, pointed out that: �Indeed, what the Archbishop was doing, in addition to praying, was drawing our attention to the �God factor� in the life of nations and people. As he pointed out, the Americans proudly have on their currency the phrase, �In God we trust��. In his view, �the prayer and the derisive condemnation raise the question of whether prayers and faith have any role at all in a nation�s nation�s economic and political life. On this, those intellectuals deriding the man of God are wrong�. He explained that: �First, faith and prayers are an important part of the life of many great nations. America�s declaration of independence and its life is littered with references to God and prayer. Indeed, once a year, the US President organises a �National Prayer Breakfast�, during which prayers are offered to ask for God�s blessings for America. Actually, many believe that the reason the former Soviet Union collapsed of its own weight was because it did not acknowledge God�. �Second, many individuals, myself included, acknowledge the centrality of Allah and faith in life. I cannot recall taking any exam or meeting any difficulty without asking God�s blessing. Indeed, I and many Ghanaians would feel very reassured to know that our President would pray before making important decisions�, he added.