As the Ebola virus threatens to tear through West Africa, having already made 1,500 victims in Liberia this year, it’s worth rejoicing that we have self-styled bishop Edward Adjei, of the Christ Incorporated church, to cure his fellow Liberians. His method could hardly be simpler: All it takes is a three-day prayer session, an exorcism of the presidential palace … and a few bottles of Vimto, the purple British soft-drink.

The exorcism involves three days of prayer and emptying a few bottles of Vimto around the building. The Vimto is supposed to be the blood of Christ. No traditional communion wine is needed, Adjei insists.

Mr Adjei points the finger at the burnt-out hulk of the old presidential palace, which stands on a hill in the capital, Monrovia. After six years as the seat of power of the warlord Charles Taylor – accused of practising witchcraft during Liberia’s brutal civil war – the building, which caught fire mysteriously during independence celebrations in 2006, is widely believed to be cursed.

Mr Adjei is one of a number of independent clergymen who now believe that the demons which lurk in it must be banished if Ebola is to be defeated. “The presidential building is our country’s gateway to Heaven, through which our leaders speak to God, but it has been desecrated,” said Mr Adjei, who aired his plan in local newspapers in Monrovia last week. “Now nobody speaks to God through the palace any more, so He has turned his back on our country. And when that happens, we lose protection against things like Ebola.”