AN alleged sexual misconduct involving a female administrator and some leading members of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana is said to have scandalised the congregation at Tema Community 4.
At the centre of the allegation is the District Administrator, Ms Doris Sobre, and the District Pastor of the Trinity Congregation, Rev. Kissiedu Ayi, who described the allegations as “mere fabrications by a faction in the church bent on tarnishing my hard-won reputation”.
Doris is also alleged to be in illicit relationships with other senior presbyters of the church, as well as the session clerk, all of whose wives she is said to have often engaged in open fights.
The crisis spilled into the public domain on Sunday, May 9, 2010 when Doris and another young woman of the congregation, Nana Abena Dankwah Ahenkan, engaged in an open fight at the entrance of the church.
Doris later lodged a complaint of assault with the Community 4 Police, where Abena was detained and later released.
The Station Officer of the Community 4 Police Station, Inspector Tawiah, said the police were investigating the matter.
Other members of the church complained to the Daily Graphic that the affair between the church administrator and some of the leading men of the church, which had resulted in Doris and various women in the church engaging in frequent brawls at the frontage of the church, was a source of embarrassment to members.
They also accused the administrator of financial malfeasance by way of inflating the prices of items procured by the church for its expansion projects and general procurement.
They added that no action had been taken against Doris, apparently because of some of the leaders’ own sense of guilt.
The spokesperson for the youth, Mr Augustine Egbenya Mawutor, told the Daily Graphic that apart from continually supporting the action of the administrator, Rev Aryee was also at loggerheads with almost the entire leadership of the church, including his deputy, who had raised issues with his leadership style and the way he took decisions without recourse to the church’s leadership.
He noted that although a formal complaint had been lodged at the Ga Presbytery of the church, its Chairman, Professor Emmanuel Martey, was yet to constitute an investigative body to look into the concerns being raised by members, describing the supervising body’s hesitation as regrettable.
The President of the Men’s Fellowship, Mr Kojo Oppong, expressed regret at the fact that the district minister failed to resolve an impasse between the Deputy Minister, Rev Elizabeth Ofosu, and the Director of Church Life and Nurture, Mrs Diana Ofosu Appiah, who he said had both been assaulted before by Doris.
In view of the deepening confusion, the leadership of the general groupings, made up of the Men’s and the Women’s fellowships, the Young Adults’ Fellowship (YAF) and the Young People’s Guild, has called on the General Assembly of the church to take steps to immediately remove the district head and the administrator to ensure peace in the church.
The situation, according to the leadership, had culminated in a drastic reduction in the church’s membership and finances.
Other members of the congregation who spoke to the Daily Graphic on condition of anonymity after this reporter had witnessed the open fight between Doris and Nana Abena said the happenings in the church were not only embarrassing to members but had also made mockery of the famed Presbyterian discipline.
They also accused Rev Aryee of adopting an autocratic style of leadership, culminating in he and the administrator taking major decisions for the congregation without consultation.
When contacted on telephone, Rev Aryee denied the allegations, questioning why he would want to engage himself in such controversies which, according to him, were calculated fabrications by a faction in the church bent on tarnishing his hard-won reputation.
He challenged his accusers to provide evidence of the said allegations if they had any.
He, however, admitted that there was grumbling in the church which, according to him, was typical, owing to the church’s nature as a human institution where various people would often voice out their frustrations if regulations being implemented did not favour them.
Rev Aryee threatened to seek legal action against individuals spreading falsehood about him, saying, “I will not hesitate to consult the law should I be defamed.”
Attempts to reach Ms Sobre on these developments proved futile, as her mobile phone was said to be switched off.
The Ga Presbytery Chairman, Professor Martey, could also not be reached for his comments on the matter.
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