Ghana Begins Jailing Pastors Who Preach on Moving Buses

Ghana has started enforcing a new law that sends pastors who preach on moving public buses to prison for up to eight months. Anyone caught preaching or hawking inside a moving commercial vehicle now faces a fine of up to $52, eight months in jail, or both.

The regulation was passed by parliament in May 2026 and enforcement began in recent weeks. It classifies preaching and hawking on moving vehicles as a nuisance, citing the safety and comfort of passengers. Ghana’s Road Traffic Regulations, 2026, provide for penalties ranging from 10 to 50 penalty units, which translates to fines between GH¢120 and GH¢600, with imprisonment of up to eight months depending on the circumstances.

Preaching on commercial buses was first banned in Ghana in 2012, but offenders then faced only up to 30 days in prison and enforcement was weak. The new law significantly increases the penalties for those who flout the ban.

Ghana is a predominantly Christian country where preaching on public transport has been widespread for years. On long-distance buses, pastors are often seen standing in the stairwell next to the driver or walking up and down the aisle, reading from the Bible and calling on sinners to repent at the tops of their voices. They do not stop even if the trip lasts several hours. The faithful sometimes offer money to the preachers to support their work.

Boateng Bismark James, a 61-year-old pastor at Gospel Light church, has been preaching on commercial vehicles leaving Accra’s Neoplan bus station since 2023. He told the BBC that he preaches on buses because not everyone can go to church on Sunday. “There are a lot of passengers who need our message of salvation to repent from their sins. We even heal the sick on some buses,” he said. Boateng said he was shaken by the regulation and wants preachers to be given an exemption. He also admitted that preaching is an important source of income, saying he used the money to support his children’s education, including his last-born who just completed university.

The new rules have divided opinion. Critics say preaching on moving vehicles is a nuisance and a safety risk because it could distract the driver. One woman in her early 30s, who wishes to be identified as Chery Lokko, said she prefers to travel in peace. “I don’t like it because they are a nuisance. Some of them spit saliva on you unconsciously, especially if you are seated not far from them, and they are a nuisance in terms of noise and saliva. I like my peace whenever I’m on public transport,” she said. In a video widely shared on social media recently, a passenger on a minibus was seen angrily confronting a pastor attempting to board, shouting, “Get down, I say get down”.

But others argue that evangelism is a Christian duty and should be protected under the freedom of religious worship. Bernice Nartey, a passenger travelling to Kumasi, said pastors should be allowed to preach, but only with passengers’ consent. “The preaching sometimes helps people to repent. For instance, if someone is going through a stressful situation, the message of the pastor can give the person renewed hope,” she said.

Ghana’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but those rights are subject to considerations including public safety. Rev Enoch Paul Hayes, a senior pastor at the International Central Gospel Church, one of the biggest churches in Ghana, told the BBC he does not think the new rules infringe on religious freedom. He urged his fellow pastors not to break the law and said they should find other ways of spreading their message. “There is social media as an alternative outlet, where the same message can reach thousands of people,” he said. The Christian Council of Ghana did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

Preachers using megaphones at Ghana’s lorry parks and markets are not affected by the ban. For Boateng and other bus preachers, the new rules create a difficult choice between adapting their ministry, giving up an important source of income, or risking jail time.

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