Methodist Bishop to face disciplinary committee

Front Page: Daily Graphic, January 22, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Administrative Bishop of the Methodist Church, Ghana who is alleged to have sexually misconducted himself has been summoned to appear before the Disciplinary Committee of the church by February 3, 2010.
A final decision will be taken on the bishop, Rt Rev Kow Bosomefi Egyir, who is currently on suspension and holidaying in the United States of America (USA).
He was suspended after he had allegedly admitted before a pastoral committee set up to investigate the matter that he had misconducted himself sexually.
Bishop Egyir is alleged to have raped the 23-year-old daughter of another high-ranking member of the church.
The alleged victim, a student in a tertiary institution in Ghana, was alleged to have been sent by her father to deliver a parcel to the bishop when the incident allegedly took place.
Responding to allegations that the church was covering up an alleged sexual misconduct by Bishop Egyir, the Presiding Bishop of the church, the Most Rev Professor Emmanuel Asante-Antwi, told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that no issue of rape had been reported to the church.
He said even if a charge or complaint of rape was reported to the church, the church was not competent to deal with criminal matters and so it would have advised the complainant to report the case to the appropriate authorities.
Throwing more light on the allegation, the Most Rev Prof Asante-Antwi said a man purporting to be the victim’s brother reported the bishop’s alleged sexual misconduct to the church.
Consequently, a high-powered pastoral committee was set up to investigate the allegation.
The Most Rev Prof Asante-Antwi said when Bishop Egyir appeared before the committee, he allegedly admitted having misconducted himself sexually but indicated that “Bishop Egyir did not say he had raped her”.
The Presiding Bishop said sexual misconduct was an issue which the church did not deal with lightly and cited sub-sections One and Five of Section 155 of the Standing Orders of the church, which listed immorality or imprudent and unchristian behaviour or misconduct, as well as unministerial conduct, as offences.
He said after Bishop Egyir had allegedly admitted the offence, the pastoral committee suspended him from all ministerial duties, including his position as Administrative Bishop.
He said a disciplinary committee was immediately set up to prefer the appropriate charges in relation to the offences to address the issue formally.
According to him, before the charges could be laid, the bishop requested for permission to travel to the USA to attend to personal issues.
The Most Rev Prof Asante-Antwi said Bishop Egyir had written to the church to acknowledge receipt of the charges and the necessity for him to appear before the committee.
“Whether he appears or not, the church will institute further disciplinary action against him, including expulsion, which is the highest punishment. This is where we are now,” he added.
He said after the final decision had been taken, a pastoral letter would be issued to the congregation and the press because of the interest the issue had generated.
“I want to state that there is no collusion whatsoever from the church. The church is not covering up anything or anybody. What has reached us is the issue of immorality,” he said.
He said even if the bishop was prosecuted and set free by the appropriate authorities on the basis of consensuality, the church would still handle the moral aspect of the matter.
“The issue of rape has not come to our notice at all. That was not the complaint lodged with us. We do not have the capacity to deal with criminal matters and we will not do that. We will also not undertake or attempt to do anything which, by law, is the responsibility or preserve of some institution or person,” he stated.
The Presiding Bishop said anyone or institution could take up any legal action against Bishop Egyir.
“The church wishes to assure all concerned that in dealing with the allegations, it will respect the laws of the land, including the Constitution, and will not do anything to violate or undermine them,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the United States Embassy in Accra says it has not received any petition from any individual or organisation for the repatriation of the Administrative Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana to face prosecution in Ghana.
“The Ambassador, His Excellency Donald G. Teitelbum, is out of town. We have checked from the mail’s registry and from the Ambassador’s Secretary records and there is no such petition,” Ms Zainab Mahama of the Public Affairs Section of the US Embassy told the Daily Graphic in response to a question as to what the embassy was doing about the petition.
She said the first time the embassy heard of it was through radio discussions on Wednesday and in the Insight newspaper.
As to what the embassy would do, she said there was nothing before the embassy for any action to be taken and it would, therefore, be difficult to say what was being done.
The petitioner, however, faxed a copy of a receipt note signed by a guard at the embassy as having received a letter from Mr Jacob Osei Yeboah.
Another source at the embassy, however, told the Daily Graphic in a separate interview that unless the bishop was criminally charged, nothing could be done about it.
It stated that even if the bishop was charged, it was only the police which could request the embassy for his repatriation.
When contacted, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Betty Mould Iddrisu, said the Attorney-General’s Department could only take up the matter after a formal complaint had been lodged.
“The petitioners can petition us so that we can take it up from there,” she said.
According to her, the A-G’s office would need witnesses to facilitate any investigations and prosecution, if there was the need.
The petitioner, Mr Osei Yeboah, who is the leader of the Resurrection Methodist Church, Adenta, described the inaction of the Methodist Church and the police as saddening and disturbing.
According to him, when persons considered as low class raped women, the police took appropriate action and the rule of law was made to work.
“When can the triumph of justice be witnessed when those who are supposed to protect the law are themselves breakers of the law and the law is only applied to the poor, weak and vulnerable in society?” he asked.
Mr Yeboah said the offence was not just about morality but a criminal one and the church must be seen to be doing the right thing and not condoning criminality.
He explained that the family could have refused to report the incident to the police because of the stigma and also the fact that the victim’s father was one of the topmost laity officials in the church.
“This rape case by the second-in-command of the Methodist Church is a clear-cut case for religious bodies, civil society and the law enforcement agencies in Ghana,” he added.