Ban on public gathering: Pastor, 2 church workers jailed 4 years each

Ban on public gathering: Pastor, 2 church workers jailed 4 years each

- A Pastor, assistant pastor, and church secretary have been jailed for disobeying social gathering directives

- Apostle Sampson Agakpe organised church service for over 50 people on April 12

- The trio are members of the Church of Pure Christ in the Volta Region

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The Kpando Circuit Court has sentenced a pastor and two others to prison for flouting the ban on social gathering.

The pastor, Apostle Sampson Agakpe, who is the founder of the Church of Pure Christ in the Volta Region, was busted with two other church members on April 12, 2020, for defying the social distance directive.

The pastor is accused of organizing a church service for over 50 people on Sunday, April 12, in clear defiance of the ban on social gathering by President Nana Akufo-Addo.

Ban on public gathering: Pastor, 2 church workers jailed 4 years each
Apostle Agapke (middle) and his assistant, Maxwell (right) as well as the Church Secretary. Source: 3news.com
Source: UGC

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The action of the pastor was in contradiction to Regulation 1 sub-section 1 of EI 65 and section 6 of Act 1012.

The police told the court the members of the church managed to escape.

The three arrested pleaded guilty to the charges of failing to comply with the ban and put before the Kpando Circuit Court, and accordingly fined 13,200 cedis each or in default serve four-year jail term each.

As at Thursday, April 16, they had failed to pay the fine totaling 39,600 cedis, forcing authorities to send them to the Ho Central Prison to serve the four-year jail term.

The prosecution told the court that on April 12, the police had information that Apostle Agakpe, was having a church service at the church premises at Tongor-Abui in the South Dayi District Assembly.

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The police proceeded to the scene and met the apostle preaching to a congregation of over 50 “in flagrant disregard of the president of the Republic of Ghana’s imposed restrictions on public gathering including religious activities in churches”, the court heard.

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that the United States of America (US) has piled pressure on China to come clean on the origin of the new strain of coronavirus that has infected over 2 million people and killed more than 146,000 others globally.

US president, Donald Trump, said his administration was investigating the source of the killer virus, including the possibility it was released into the broader environment from a research laboratory in Wuhan.

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Source: YEN.com.gh

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