The preacher, Abraham Arthur, who has since been granted bail, is said to have resisted arrest when personnel from the Noise Control Department went to stop him from making noise around the Asafo interchange on Tuesday morning.

According to the department, the preacher struggled with the personnel and subsequently used one of his gadgets to hit the windscreen of their vehicle several times, causing a huge damage.

The development comes few weeks after the Ashanti Regional Minister ordered the arrest of the head pastor of the House of Bethel Ministry for noise making during an all-night service.

The Kumasi Metropolitan Noise Control Officer, Edmund Kombal, who narrated the incident to Citi News, said he wants the police to prosecute the preacher to serve as a deterrent to others.

He expressed worry over what he described as a trend of street preachers attacking KMA officials when they are approached over their activity.

Meanwhile, the department has confiscated the gadgets belonging to the preacher.

‘Noisy church’ left me no choice – Minister defends pastor’s arrest

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, who similarly arrested a pastor for noisemaking, later told Citi News he had no option than to involve the police to disrupt the watch night service of the House of Bethel Ministry, as they were making excessive noise in the early hours of Saturday Morning.

According to the Minister, the church, which is located at Anwomaso-High Tension, a suburb of Kumasi, ignored his previous warnings, as they appeared to have increased the noise levels in an act of defiance.

Mr. Osei Mensah was said to have stormed the church at about 12:30am, with armed Police officers, and ordered them to halt an ongoing Watch Night Service because of the noise making. The pastor was released in the morning on the same Saturday.

The head pastor of the church, Reverend Kwame Takyi, was arrested and put behind bars, and granted bail later on Saturday morning around 8:00am, according to Citi News’ Ashanti Regional Correspondent, Hafiz Tijani.

Defending his approach, Mr. Osei Mensah said he has complained “several times [about the noise levels]. Yesterday [Friday], around midnight, they were making a lot of noise. I entered the church and I told them the level of the noise was too high.”

He said there were about 30 people in the congregation and he did not see the reason for all that noise “that we cannot even sleep.”

“The moment after I warned them and left, it [the noise] became even worse. Maybe I annoyed them so they rather increased the volume and I had no other option but to report them to the police,” Mr. Osei Mensah added.

Church disputes noise-making claim

The church, however doesn’t think it was making too much noise.

The Secretary of the House of Bethel Ministry, Stephen Osei, said to Citi News that, “at a point, the police felt the noise that was going on wasn’t something that could disrupt the place because it is a programme we do every last Friday of the month. He [the Regional Minister] has always been here with us and this time, we felt surprised this thing was going on.”

“Normally what we do is that, by 1:30 AM, we leave the microphone to the pastor to preach, and then we mute everything in the room. People are not allowed to sing in the room,” he explained.

Unlawful arrest or show of power?

There are concerns the Minister may have acted in an unlawful manner, using his office and privilege as a public officer to intimidate the church.

Although there are by-laws on noise making in Ghana, they are mostly not enforced, worsening the situation across the country.

It is however unclear whether the Minister acted appropriately by ordering the arrest of the pastor, considering that in most cases of this nature, complaints are first made at the Assemblies’ departments that deals with such matters, or to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

This is because, such noise levels are measured with noise meters by these officials, to determine the permissible and non-permissible levels.

And in most of these cases, fines are often slapped on offenders rather than imprisonment terms, except in cases where a convict fails to pay the fine.

–

By: Hafiz Tijani/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Street preacher arrested for ‘destroying’ KMA noise control vehicle appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the Department, the Criminal Offences Act 1960 (ACT 30), empowers citizens to cause the arrest of persons who commit an offence.

[contextly_sidebar id=”l2nzjHd7qIVn92b6CoTc7Xce3vk0fU30″]The Department’s defence of the Minister comes after he stormed the House of Bethel Ministry’s Watch Night Service on Saturday, and ordered police officers to arrest its Head Pastor’s arrest, claiming that the church was making ‘too much noise’.

The pastor was picked up around 12:30am, and granted bail at about 8:00am the same day, but it is unclear what offense he was charged with, since it is unclear whether the noise level was measured before the Minister’s action, which has been condemned by many as mere show of power, whereas others have commended him.

The Department said that although efforts are being made to clamp down on persons who make noise and disturb public peace,  inadequate logistics and a small workforce significantly limits their ability to execute their mandate fully.

The Metro Noise Control Officer, Edmund Kombal, who spoke to Citi News, called on residents in the metropolis to take a cue from the Minister’s action, and lawfully stop people who disturb their peace.

“You want to say the Minister has committed an offence or he has violated the law. I don’t know whether you have [spoken] with him or not. We have got a law in Ghana that if someone is committing an offence, a citizen can cause his arrest, and he [the Minister] might be using that law,” he said.

“We are doing our best. It’s only that our number is limited and our vehicle is so rickety that when you move out the first day, the second day it is broken down, and it takes us days to put it back on track”.

He said the Minister’s actions serve as a warning to churches and other individuals or groups that fail to comply with laws regulating noise levels in the country.

Investigations ongoing, police refuse comment 

The KNUST police have said they are still investigating the matter, although they are still withholding the church’s sound systems, whilst the pastor has since been granted bail.

Some residents who live very close to the Church expressed their displeasure with the noise levels, and called for it to be reduced to enable them go about their usual activities without any distractions and disturbances.

One of the residents told Citi News that “Frankly speaking, we can’t prevent people from worshiping, but they should always reduce the noise for us. We find it very difficult to sleep at night because of the noise. Those who operate the instruments at the church must always ensure that the noise levels are reduced. Whenever they have a watch night service, I am unable to sleep because of the noise”.

‘Noisy church’ left me no choice – Minister defends pastor’s arrest

The Regional Minister has told Citi News he had no option than to involve the police to disrupt the watch night service of the House of Bethel Ministry, as they were making excessive noise.

According to the Minister, the church, which is about 100 metres from his private home, ignored his previous warnings, as they appeared to have increased the noise levels in an act of defiance.

Kumasi church denies making noise; Pastor traumatized by arrest

The Secretary of the House of Bethel Ministry in Kumasi, Stephen Osei, has denied claims by the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, that the church was making excessive noise.

Stephen Osei told Citi News, that the Pastor, Reverend Kwame Takyi, who was put behind bars around 2:30am on Saturday, and released at 8:00am same day, is deeply traumatized by the incident.

Unlawful arrest or show of power?

There are concerns the Minister may have acted in an unlawful manner, using his office and privilege as a public officer to intimidate the church. Although there are by-laws on noise making in Ghana, they are mostly not enforced, worsening the situation across the country.

It is however unclear whether the Minister acted appropriately by ordering the arrest of the pastor, considering that in most cases of this nature, complaints are first made at the Assemblies’ departments that deals with such matters, or to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

This is because, such noise levels are measured with noise meters by these officials, to determine the permissible and non-permissible levels. And in most of these cases, fines are often slapped on offenders rather than imprisonment terms, except in cases where a convict fails to pay the fine.

–

By: Hafiz Tijani/Citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post KMA backs Minister’s arrest of pastor for alleged noise-making appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the Minister, the church, which is located at Anwomaso-High Tension, a suburb of Kumasi, ignored his previous warnings, as they appeared to have increased the noise levels in an act of defiance.

[contextly_sidebar id=”jCHRdbXe7qSYhq97tuW7p0MgbvNbNsdb”]Mr. Osei Mensah was said to have stormed the church at about 12:30am, with armed Police officers, and ordered them to halt an ongoing Watch Night Service because of the noise making.

The head pastor of the church, Reverend Kwame Takyi, was arrested and put behind bars, and granted bail later on Saturday morning around 8:00am, according to Citi News’ Ashanti Regional Correspondent, Hafiz Tijani.

Defending his approach, Mr. Osei Mensah said he has complained “several times [about the noise levels]. Yesterday [Friday], around midnight, they were making a lot of noise. I entered the church and I told them the level of the noise was too high.”

He said there were about 30 people in the congregation and he did not see the reason for all that noise “that we cannot even sleep.”

“The moment after I warned them and left, it [the noise] became even worse. Maybe I annoyed them so they rather increased the volume and I had no other option but to report them to the police,” Mr. Osei Mensah added.

Church disputes noise-making claim

The church, however doesn’t think it was making too much noise.

The Secretary of the House of Bethel Ministry, Stephen Osei, said to Citi News that, “at a point, the police felt the noise that was going on wasn’t something that could disrupt the place because it is a programme we do every last Friday of the month. He [the Regional Minister] has always been here with us and this time, we felt surprised this thing was going on.”

“Normally what we do is that, by 1:30 AM, we leave the microphone to the pastor to preach, and then we mute everything in the room. People are not allowed to sing in the room,” he explained.

Unlawful arrest or show of power?

There are concerns the Minister may have acted in an unlawful manner, using his office and privilege as a public officer to intimidate the church.

Although there are by-laws on noise making in Ghana, they are mostly not enforced, worsening the situation across the country.

It is however unclear whether the Minister acted appropriately by ordering the arrest of the pastor, considering that in most cases of this nature, complaints are first made at the Assemblies’ departments that deals with such matters, or to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

This is because, such noise levels are measured with noise meters by these officials, to determine the permissible and non-permissible levels.

And in most of these cases, fines are often slapped on offenders rather than imprisonment terms, except in cases where a convict fails to pay the fine.

–

By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘Noisy church’ left me no choice – Minister defends pastor’s arrest appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Police at KNUST have since granted bail to the Church’s Head Pastor, Reverend Kwame Takyi, after he had spent some hours behind bars.

The police picked up Rev. Takyi, and detained him at the KNUST police station, after seizing the church’s sound equipment.

Mr. Osei Mensah stormed the church building with armed Police officers at Anwomaso-High Tension, a suburb in Kumasi, and ordered them to halt an ongoing Watch Night Service because of the noise making.

The church members said the Minister’s “Rambo Style” was unfortunate, as they rather expected him to engage the leadership of the church on the issue.

The Ashanti Regional Minister, who lives close to the church, had stormed the premises around 12:30 am, to warn the congregation for the first time, and later came in with the police officers at about 2:00am to order the arrest of the head pastor.

The Secretary of the House of Bethel Ministry, Stephen Osei, narrating the incident to Citi News “The regional Minister came to our church and he said we were making noise as it was time for him to sleep. He entered there and told us to stop the noise. Our pastors wanted to speak to him but he wasn’t ready to speak to our pastors.”

Mr. Osei also said the Regional Minster used “all sort of abusive words” against them.

The church’s Secretary also suggested that police carried out the arrest unwillingly.

“At a point, the police felt the noise that was going on wasn’t something that could disrupt the place because it is a programme we do every last Friday of the Month. He [the Regional Minister] has always been here with us and this time, we felt surprised this thing was going on.”

Attempts by Citi News to reach the Regional Minister have so far been unsuccessful.

Although there are by-laws on noise making in Ghana, they are mostly not enforced, worsening the situation across the country.

–

By: Hafiz Tijani/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ashanti Regional Minister arrests pastor for noise-making appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.