Rev. Stephen Azundem
REV. STEPHEN Azundem, the District Minister of the Emmanuel Presbyterian (EP) Church at Nankese, in the Suhum municipality of the Eastern Region, has denied ejecting Mama Addobea, a 71-year-old lady, from her house.
DAILY GUIDE on January 28, 2016 reported that Reverend Stephen Azundem, on Wednesday, January 27, led the police to evict MamaAbena Addobea from a house which belongs to her late grandfather, claiming the house belongs to the church.
Mama Addobea, in an interview with DAILY GUIDE, said the district minister and other members of the church came with the police and threw her out of her grandfather, Rev Philip Kwabi’s house, sealing off the five rooms with padlocks and leaving her and her children homeless. She said her grandfather was the founder of the church.
Rev. Azundem, who expressed worry about the report, told this paper that neither a church member nor himself was involved in the eviction exercise. He said the exercise was carried out by a bailiff from the Suhum Magistrate Court upon a court order.
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“The issue under contention started more than 20 years ago when the mother of the said Madam Abena Addobea (Madam Odamea), who was the daughter of the late Philip Okwabi who once worked in the church as a catechist, started claiming ownership of the building which served as a mission house and later as teachers’ quarters,” he underscored.
Rev. Azundem explained that though the church had built a room for Mr Okwabi attached to the teachers’ quarters, Madam Adobea in 2010 broke part of the building from their end into the teachers’ quarters which the church tried amicably to resolve without success.
“The church then decided to seek amicable settlement in court and the court ruled in favour of the church and directed that Abena Addobea and her family should stay in their apartment and vacate that of the church,” Rev. Azundem posited.
He said Madam Addobea refused to respect the court decision till she was forced out on the fateful Wednesday by the bailiff based on the court order.
FROM Daniel Bampoe, Nankese
