Richard Attenkah
18 August 2008
Tema — A group of people, who claim they are concerned citizens of the Musama Disco Christo Church, has stated that they were fed up with the police in the Central Region harassing their members, especially their leaders.
According to them, anytime the leadership of the Church decided to organize a church programme, to discuss issues that would advance the growth of the Church, the Central Regional police, led by Regional Police Commander, DCOP Rose Atenga, would use harassment and intimidation to stop them.
They have therefore appealed to the government, to set up a committee of enquiry into circumstances leading to the constant harassment of their members at the Church's headquarters at Mozano, near Agona Swedru, by personnel from the Central Regional Police Command.
The Chairman of the group, Frank Acquah, who is a member of the Suhum branch of the Church, made the disclosure at a press conference, held in Tema last Friday, primarily to shed light on recent happenings in the church, as well as expose the level of police harassment of their members.
According to him, hitherto the Church had lived in peace, until a local newspaper carried a story, accusing the then head of the Church, Maritaiah Jonas Jehu-Appiah, of drugging and raping a Junior Secondary School (JSS) girl.
Consequently, a three-member interim management committee, was set up to manage the affairs of the Church, while the leader of the Church, known as Akaboha, was dismissed to pave the way for proper investigations to be conducted into the matter.
But, supporters of the Akaboha, who believed the Church was property bequeathed to him by his father, claimed that he was above reproach, and therefore cannot be sanctioned by the church leaders, and started creating confusion in the Church.
He did not only refuse to comply with the decision of the Church, to investigate the matter, but also went further to set in motion a legal battle to get the decision nullified, because he said that the position of the Akaboha was a life-time one, and therefore he cannot be removed just like that, the chairman noted.
Unfortunately for him, he continued, in 2006 the Agona Swedru High Court ruled in favour of the Church, but instead of obeying the judgment of the court, the Akaboha and his supporters grew wild, and started tormenting members of the church.
But, anytime they reported the conduct of such people to the police, no action was taken, instead members of the Church, in whose favour the ruling went, were those being targeted for harassment and intimidation.
Mr. Acquah submitted that the Church decided to use one of its events, dubbed 'Peace Festival,' to attempt to adjudicate on the issue, but whenever they decided to hold it, the police would stop them, with the excuse that they had received intelligence reports that if the programme was allowed to take place, there would be chaos.
He disclosed further that, "These public officials have hardened their hearts to an amazing degree, and have been unable to tolerate the Church and its current leadership.
"The Regional Police Commander, DCOP Rose Atenga, for instance, continues to harass and intimidate the leaders of the Church. Indeed, she has succeeded in creating, shielding and propping up a faction that has no legal mandate to administer the Church."
This, the group said, they did not understand, and for that reason wished that they could be left alone to resolve their own problems, because as a Church they had the ability to handle what was happening among them.
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