A raging leadership dispute that has engulfed the Resurrection Power New Generation Ministries, one of the largest churches in Accra, continues to intensify as some church leaders get physically assaulted by the wife of the founder.
The long absence of its ailing founder and General Overseer Rev Dr. Anthony Kwadwo Boakye and a poor church governance structure, have resulted in a power struggle between his wife, Rev. Mrs. Margaret Boakye, and the leaders of the church.
On Sunday, violence erupted after church service as Mrs. Boakye prevented some church leaders from playing an oversight role in the counting of the offertory.
A leaked CCTV footage of the service held at the Kasoa headquarters of the church on Sunday shows Mrs. Boakye assaulting a number of the church leaders.
The affected church elders, who appeared to be monitoring the church finances, were sitting close to the area where some designated members of the church were counting offertory from the Sunday church service.
However, Mrs. Boakye who appeared to have been incensed by the presence of the leaders in the finance area launched an attack on them.
In May this year, Rev Kwadwo Boakye, in a message to the church, reportedly barred the wife from managing the finances of the church after disagreements between her and the church leaders over the management of the church.
But Mrs. Boakye is said to have remained adamant, describing the church leaders as a cartel who wants to squander the financial resources of the church.
Reacting to Sunday’s incident, a brother of Mrs. Boakye, Rev. Johnson Kwasi Asare, accused the assaulted church leaders of infuriating the founder’s wife with their presence at the offertory counting area.
While condemning his sister’s violent action, Rev. Asare indicated that the assaulted leaders breached an agreement that prevents them and the founder’s wife from being close to the money counting area.
According to him, the agreement was reached at a meeting between the church leaders and Rev Anthony Boakye, and some lawyers.
“They agreed to designate 12 people to count the church monies. The pastor’s wife and church leaders are not supposed to go anywhere close to where the money is counted.
“I believe my sister overreacted. But the agreement is there. The agreement was that the pastor’s wife, the church leaders, and all the stakeholders would designate a representative to join the counting, and that is what has been in place for a while.
“But on Sunday, the pastor’s wife learned that the church leaders who are seeking to squander the money had gone to sit where the counting was being done, and that was what prompted her to confront them,” he explained.