Francis Antwi, aka Rev. Obofour
THE FOUNDER of Anointed Palace Chapel (APC), Francis Antwi, aka Rev.
Obofour, claims his church members did not assault officials of the Tema West
Municipal Assembly (TWMA).
He said it was rather the assembly that sent about 23 heavily-built
men to attack his members.
Reacting to last Wednesday’s fracas that ensued on the premises of
his church in Tema, Rev. Obofour called the TWMA official “liars” and said they
attacked three of his security men on the church premises without any
justification.
He said in a 28-minute 17-second video on his YouTube channel that the allegations levelled against his church
workers by the assembly were fabricated to cover their bad deeds at his church.
“I am stating on authority that no well-built men assaulted anyone
at my church. The person who said well-built men assaulted someone at my church
is a liar, and those who do not understand can send me anywhere they want,” he declared.
“I want the government to know that we did not take the law into our
hands but they rather assaulted three security men at the church,” he added.
The APC founder said officials of the assembly as well as the Tema
Development Corporation (TDC) were aware of the construction of the church and
the officials had been inspecting progress of work from time to time.
“The government appointees and assembly officials often visit us
here since we started building the church and they cannot say they are unaware,”
he pointed out.
Rev. Obofour threatened to expose the assembly that gave him the
go-ahead and is now turning around to claim he is doing it illegally, saying, “The
building did not just appear at the place. If they push me, I will talk. If
they want us to talk, we’ll talk. Push me and I will speak to the nation.”
“If it is a new appointee who has taken office and wants to
introduce himself or herself to me, then it is a different thing all together,
but if it is the same people who are in those offices then they cannot say they
do not know anything about the construction of the church because about eight
people from both TDC and the assembly are aware of the construction of the
church,” he stressed.
“I will talk when you push me. Anyone who has collected money in
connection with the construction of the building will have to vomit it when we
get to the court,” he added.
Rev. Obofour denied receiving any subpoenas from the assembly in
connection with the construction of the church building, pointing out that “it
is not true if the assembly officials said they brought any letter to the
church. We challenge them to mention the person who received the letters and
when they brought the letters.”
He seized the opportunity to introduce three men whom he alleged
were severely assaulted by the TWMA taskforce without any provocation.
On the so-called blood stains in the video, he stated that nobody
bled during the commotion. Rather, he said the paint the taskforce personnel
wanted to use to write on the building poured on the TWMA officials and some of
his church members during the struggle.
Last Monday, there was news that Adwoa Amoako, Municipal Chief
Executive (MCE) of Tema West Assembly, escaped being physically attacked by
some agitated members of APC.
The incident occurred near Tema Community 18 Roundabout at about 11:00am after the MCE and her officers had visited the premises of the church to inspect building permits and also collect property rates.
From Vincent Kubi, Tema
