CLAIM:
On Tuesday August 11 2020, the campaign spokesperson of the NDC flagbearer John Dramani Mahama issued a statement on issues resulting from the former president’s engagement with Christian leaders in the Northern Regional capital Tamale. The statement titled, “John Mahama asks for clemency for pastor jailed over breach of public gatherings; describes his sentencing as draconian” claimed that Apostle Sampson Agakpe, founder of the Church of Pure Christ in the Volta Region, assistant pastor and secretary of the same church were arrested, charged and jailed for four years. The former president described the sentence as draconian and an act of selective justice and called on his successor to grant clemency to the accused persons. The news story was carried by starrfm.com.gh, Starr 103.5 Fm and other media organizations. It was also captured on www.johnmahama.org, the official website of the NDC flag bearer.https://www.johnmahama.org/news/john-mahama-wants-clemency-for-pastor-jailed-for-flouting-covid-19-rules
BACKGROUND:
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana triggered a number of policies and directives from government. As part of measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country, President Akufo Addo addressed Ghanaians on Sunday March 15, 2020 announcing the closure of all educational institutions and imposing a ban on all public gatherings including “conferences, workshops, funerals, festivals, political rallies, sporting events and religious programmes such as services in churches and mosques” https://www.gbcghanaonline.com/general/coronavirus-ghana-closes-schools-bans-public-gatherings/2020/. The ban which took effect on Monday March 16, 2020 was in place for an initial period of 4 weeks but was subsequently extended. Shortly after that announcement, Parliament passed the E.1 64 setting out the details of the ban and making it a law that is punishable. President Akufo Addo had said that persons who flout the law will be punished. https://www.ghanaiantimes.com.gh/public-social-gathering-defiance-well-deal-with-law-breakers-president/. Following the announcement of the ban, a number of arrests were made by the Police. https://www.ghanaiantimes.com.gh/pastor-arrested-for-flouting-ban-on-church-service/
On April 17, 2020, news reports indicated that a pastor and 2 church workers had been jailed for flouting the ban https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Pastor-2-church-workers-jailed-4-years-each-for-flouting-ban-on-public-gathering-926833.
While the arrest of the Sampson Agakpe, founder of the Church of Pure Christ in the Volta Region and two church workers has never been in doubt, very little was known about whether they were indeed serving a jail term for of 4 years for their inability to pay the fine totaling 39,600 cedis prior to the statement from the NDC flagbearer. Starrfmfactchecker seeks to provide facts about the status of Sampson Agakpe and the two church workers at this particular moment.
VERIFICATION:
Starrfmfactchecker contacted the Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana Rev. Dr. Paul Kwabena Boafo via telephone who confirmed that Sampson Agakpe and the two church workers who were arrested have been released for months now. The Christian Council chairman added that the accused persons did serve some days although he wasn’t sure the exact number of days. In search of the finer details, Starrfmfactchecker contacted the founder and head pastor of the Church of Pure Christ in the Volta Region Sampson Agakpe who confirmed that he and one of the church workers spent 11 days in the Ho prison while the remaining one spent 4 days in prison. They were arrested on the 12th of April and on the 16th of April they appeared before the Kpando Circuit Court.
“there were three of us that were arrested. We were sent to the Police station at Kpalime-Duga for three days. On the fourth day, we were sent to the Kpando circuit court and later to the Ho prisons. Our other pastor was released on 20th April. The Church and family members raised the money to pay his fine. Myself and the secretary, we were released on 27th April. Apostle Richard Buafor of the Lord’s Pentecostal Church paid the fine for us and that is how come we were released. We are now free men” Pastor Sampson Agakpe told Starrfmfactchecker
JOHN MAHAMA’s UPDATE:
Hours after the statement demanding that President Akufo Addo grants the convicted persons clemency, former President and the NDC flagbearer John Dramani Mahama took to social media site Facebook to announce that he had been informed of the pastor’s release.
CONCLUSION:
From the testimony of the pastor, it is clear that while Sampson Agakpe was put in prison after his arrest following the flouting of ban on public gatherings, he was released months before the former president issued the statement calling on President Akufo Addo to grant him clemency. Starrfmfactchaeker finds that although the original statement from John Mahama contained false information, his subsequent post on Facebook shows an admission on his part that he made a mistake. As a result, we will not give a final rating for this.
Researched by: Regina Borley Bortey
