Broadcaster Paul Adom-Otchere has criticised the founder and leader of Perez Chapel International, Archbishop Charles Agyinasare, for his ‘Nogokpo is the demonic headquarters of the Volta Region’ statement.
According to him, the archbishop’s description of a shrine as demonic is wrong since shrines are legally recognised as the place of worship of Traditionalists in Ghana.
Speaking during his Good Evening Ghana programme on Thursday, June 8, 2023, monitored by GhanaWeb, Adom-Otchere noted that Agyinasare’s comment also violates the freedom of association given to Ghanaians under the 1992 Constitution.
“Article 21 of the Republic Constitution (General Fundamental Freedoms) states that all persons shall have the right to freely practice any religion and manifest such practice. In the 1960 population census, religion was classified into three categories: African Traditional Religion, Christianity and Islam… and that is how all population censuses have been conducted since then.
“The symbol of Christian worship is the church; the symbol of Islamic worship is the mosque and the symbol of African Traditional Religion is the shrine. Therefore, a religious leader should not be able to say that the representation of a shrine is demonic, under the 1992 constitution you can’t say that.
“Because you see, we Christians use the word demonic, Muslims use the word demonic and so does the African Traditional Religion,” he said.
The broadcaster added that the archbishop saying that a tyre of the vehicle of his associate pastor was removed on the Nogokpo road because of demons is wrong because Christians are to attribute anything that happens to them to God.
Also, Adom-Otchere said that the 14-day ultimatum issued by the chiefs of Nogokpo for Agyinasare to appear before them is illegal.
“Sections 74 of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 states that ‘Whoever threatens any other person with unlawful harm, with intent to put that person in fear or unlawful harm, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour,” he added.
Background:
The Archbishop on the third day of the Supernatural Summit held at the headquarters of Perez Chapel in Accra, May 25, 2023, preached about divine protection and the existence of evil forces where he cited several examples to support his teaching.
In the course of his preaching, Agyinasare recounted an incident where his team received spiritual attacks for hosting a crusade in the Volta Region.
“During this crusade in Aflao… we slept at Agbozume, that was where our hotel was and you have to go through Nogokpo. And Nogokpo is the demonic headquarters in the Volta Region.
“We only have not said it but the second night I made Bishop Yaw Adu talk about witchcraft and we disgraced the witches and wizards. When we were driving from Aflao to Agbozume, immediately we got to Nogokpo, Bishop Yaw Adu’s four-wheel drive, the tyre came out from under the car,” he recounted.
The statement he made went viral which led to criticisms by sections of the public.
Some chiefs of Nogokpo have ordered him to appear before them over the comments he made or suffer the consequences.
His church, after the ultimatum, announced a one-week fasting and prayers exercise over the threat of the Nogokpo chief.
Watch Adom-Otchere’s remarks in the video below:
Also, watch the latest episode of GhanaWeb Election Desk on GhanaWeb TV below:
Meanwhile, watch the first episode of Everyday People on GhanaWeb TV below:
Paul Adom-Otchere (left), Archbishop Charles Agyinasare (right)
