A pastor has been accused of snatching the wife of a church member in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
The Pastor, Macaiah Addai, was paraded before a five-member traditional authority at Manhyia where he was pronounced guilty of the charges preferred against him.
He was made to pay a fine of GH₵ 20,000 and appease the gods with four sheep.
The pastor, who already has three wives is being punished for his greediness. Luckily for him, a prominent chief intervened and pleaded on his behalf for a reduced punishment. He was then asked to reduce the number of sheep to two which amounted to GH₵ 600. He made the payment without any hesitation.
Pastor Macaiah was however made to pay an amount of GH₵ 20,000 as compensation to his church member, Kofi Adei, for snatching and engaging in other acts with his wife.
Mr. Adjei told the 5-member panel that after 21 years of marriage, his wife, Gloria Amponsah recently changed behaviour and started demanding a divorce.
He then approached his pastor, Macaiah to intervene and speak on his behalf for his wife to rescind her decision. The pastor however told him he cannot assist the situation.
“Two days later, I discovered that my wife was living with Pastor Macaiah Addai as a married couple. For over a year and a half, all my attempts to convince my wife to return home have failed,” Mr. Adjei tearfully recounted.
In his defense before the Manhyia palace on Tuesday, Pastor Macaiah claimed that he had taken Gloria Amponsah as his wife because she had informed him that she had divorced Mr. Kofi Adjei.
The pastor’s case took a turn for the worse when he admitted that he hadn’t performed any customary rites for Gloria Amponsah’s family, as he believed in following Jewish marriage ordinances and customs, which do not require such rites for a divorced woman in her subsequent marriage.
Visibly shaken, Pastor Macaiah Addai struggled to answer more probing questions from the five-member panel, consisting of chiefs, eventually admitting his offense and subsequently being customarily fined.
The case has been adjourned until Tuesday, June 20, 2023, for final resolution and conclusion of the matter.
