Manhean Oechler Presby In Turmoil As Pastor Causes Arrest Of Presbyter, Choristers!

Soireenews.com can authoritatively report that the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), Oechler Congregation, Manhean Sub-District, is in turmoil and on the brink of collapse! This is because of the autocratic tendencies of the current Head of the church, Reverend Amo Ashie, who was posted to the church in 2020. The height of his authoritarian administration reached a crescendo on the morning of Friday, May 5, 2023, when he caused the arrest of three prominent members of his congregation. They were former Presbyter, Mr David Mintah, Madam Rebecca Sackey and Margaret Sackey, both Choristers of the church who are all in their 60s. The news of the arrest of the three church members by police officers from the Anya District Police Command is currently brewing tension in the church. According to information available to this portal, the Senior Presbyter of the church, Samuel Gamor, led the Anya police officers to the houses of the three members to effect the arrest, a development which was described as pathetic by some members who got wind of the information. Interestingly, Samuel Gamor and one Michael Sokaye (serving on the current Session) were both part of the 2018-2022 Session who kicked against Rev Ashie’s move to allow burial of non-Oechler members at the church cemetery. However, prior to the arrest, the matter had already been brought before the Manhean Council of Elders who had slated 4:00 p.m., Friday, May 5, 2023, to resolve the issue. Thus, the council members were even surprised when they learned that the same issue before them had been reported at the Anya District Police Command. Multiple sources told Mypagegh.com that Rev Ashie, who is in his early 40s, caused the arrest of the three because they had spoken against his agenda to bury, at all cost, at the Oechler Congregation’s small cemetery a dead Presbyterian member who attended Presby Church at Oduman, a town close to Manhean. The sources indicated that it had been the long plan of Rev Ashie to make the church cemetery open to all members of Presbyterian Church within the sub-district. A move that saw the former Session (2018-2022) and senior Presbyters of the church vehemently oppose it, during his early months at the church in 2020. Furthermore, Mypagegh.com gathered that the church has been sharply divided by this controversial issue. While majority of the members are against Rev Ashie’s policy to bury non-Oechler Presby members at the church cemetery, the current Session who have become his puppets, are in full support of it. According to those who are against this policy, the small cemetery was created to be used to bury only Oechler members. “And so we will ensure that that tradition is well guarded and protected. Can you imagine what would have happened if we had allowed other dead Presby members to be buried here? Obviously, we would be left with no space to bury our dead,” some visibly angry members of the church told Mypagegh.com on strict condition of anonymity, ostensibly for fear of them too being arrested. Besides the cemetery saga, Mypagegh.com discovered that the church has been riddled with issues which are tearing it apart. One such issue this online portal discovered was that most of Rev Ashie’s sermons were laden with aspersions and insinuations against members. That situation has seen many of the members exit from the church. Oechler Congregation which boasted of a membership of around 250-300 now has a population below 100. “In addition, our Rev often times uses the pulpit as a means to settle scores with members. This is very, very shameful, especially when we go to church to be edified by the word of God,” an elderly member of the church told Mypagegh.com when we visited the area on Friday, May 5, 2023. Other worrying developments in the church, Soireenews.com was informed, included the dissolution of the Men’s Fellowship, Singing Band and the Choir by Rev Ashie. Now what is happening at Oechler Congregation is that the Praises Team has been forced to play the roles of the Singing Band and the Choir. Rather shockingly, this reporter found out that all these issues threatening the Oechler Congregation were happening right under the watch of the Ga West Presbytery Chairperson, Rev Enoch Adjei Pobee, who has been provided with a comfortable accommodation by the PCG at Manhean. What even baffles some Oechler members is that Rev Pobee sees nothing wrong with these actions of Rev Ashie. “In fact, Rev Pobee sometimes attends our Sunday church services; some of our open fora where some of these issues crop up, yet he has turned a deaf ear to them,” another elderly woman of the church angrily voiced out.

When Soireenews.com reached Rev Ashie on his mobile phone, he stressed that there was no issue at his church, and immediately hanged up.

"There is no issue at my church so I can't speak to any issue," he said in an angry tone. Just within one minute, someone called with a different number identifying himself as a policeman but declined to mention his name. "I am a police officer and when we get there, we shall see," the said police officer stated. Against this backdrop, members of the Oechler Congregation are calling on the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana to, without delay, transfer Rev Ashie to prevent him from collapsing the church.