Judge Wants ‘Stubborn’ Pastor’s Charge Amended

The Presiding Judge of the Asokwa District Court, Rosemarie Afia Asante, has ordered for an amendment of charges preferred against a pastor who defied government’s ban on church service.

Apostle Kofi Nkansah Sarkodie, popularly known as ‘Saint Sark’, 67, the General Overseer of the Open Arms Ministries at North Suntreso, in Kumasi, was hauled before the court on Monday.

The prosecution team had preferred Unlawful Assembly and Breach of Peace as charges against Saint Sark and his son, Kofi Nkansah Sarkodie, 29, who is reported to be an Elder of the Open Arms Ministries.

But after a careful look at the charge sheet, the Presiding Judge, Rosemarie Afia Asante, said the charge against the two suspects doesn’t tally with the offence they have been accused of so the charge sheet should be amended.

The judge therefore granted bail of Gh 10,000 with two sureties each to Saint Sark and his son, who were both in court with their lawyer, Mr. John Brefo. The suspects would return to court on March 26, 2020.

Apostle Kofi Nkansah Sarkodie, it would be recalled, was apprehended in his church last Wednesday after he defied President Nana Akufo-Addo’s order for a temporal ban on church services across the country.

The President’s order was among plans by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration to help prevent the spread of the deadly Covid-19 virus, which is claiming lives globally, from infecting Ghanaians.

Saint Sark was granted bail on Wednesday after interrogation at the police station only for him to organize another church service on Sunday morning, leading to his second arrest in less than one-week.