The residents of the Volta Regional town of Nogokpo are requesting a meeting with Archbishop Dr. Charles Agyinasare, founder of Perez Chapel International, following disparaging remarks made about the region, according to a chieftain in the town.
Hours after their June 2 news conference, community organizer Nufialaga Mawufemor Korbla Nonyigbey told Citi FM in Accra that Agyinasare’s alleged apologies for the original commotion was not serious.
Speaking on Citi FM’s Citi Eyewitness News, Nufialaga forewarned that the pastor would face repercussions if he disregarded their summonses in this regard.
“If you listen to what Archbishop Agyinasare said on Sunday, it wasn’t an apology. He rather came to justify it and that is where we realised that he’s taking us for granted. Or perhaps he thinks we cannot do anything. This is very disrespectful, he disrespected his wife and looked into our eyes his in-laws and insulted us.
“No amount of grammar, English can change what he said, and we were expecting him to come out with a sincere apology not for him to come and start speaking grammar to us. We have given him the 14-day ultimatum, if he likes he should come and do the needful if he likes he should refuse. He can decide to refuse, and we shall see who are the controllers of cosmic power. If he doesn’t do the needful we shall use him as a scapegoat,” he threatened.
He argued that the Archbishop’s opinions had cast a shadow over the neighborhood and the region as a whole, and that they also had implications for marriage and the economy.
“What he said has cast a dark shadow on Nogokpo and Volta region, especially with the youth who are struggling to seek jobs and our women who are planning to get married, what he said will affect them psychologically on any means,” he said.
The Chiefs and people of Nogokpo, in the Ketu South Municipality held a press conference to demand that the clergyman personally meets with them for a peace talks over is widely-reported comments that Nogokpo was the “demonic headquarters of Volta Region.”
The chiefs voiced their displeasure and demanded a settlement to repair the damage Agyinasare’s statements had created.
In May 2023, Agyinasare delivered a sermon at a summit in Accra’s Perez Dome, where he described an encounter he and his co-pastor had in Nogokpo after going to a crusade in Aflao.
During a following sermon on May 28, 2023, the Nogokpo Chiefs and community members expressed their deep worry over his disparaging remarks and requested an explanation for his lack of contrition.
The Chiefs explained that Agyinasare’s remarks suggest that Nogokpo is a gathering place for depraved and bad people in the Volta Region.
They emphasized Nogokpo’s historical significance by noting that during the fight for Ghana’s independence, Osagyfo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the country’s first president, asked the Thunder Deity, Torgbui Zakadza, for guidance.
See the statement here.
