Salvation Army youth run amok in Kumasi

THE PREMISES of the Ashanti New Town branch of the Salvation Army Church in Kumasi was the scene of pandemonium yesterday, when the youth of the church went berserk, holding leaders hostage and disrupting church services.

For almost one hour, leaders inside the church building were denied the chance to come out, while preventing church members from entering, after the youth locked the entrance door.

But for the timely intervention of the Kumasi Overseer of the Church, Major Appiah Teng, something untoward would have happened.

The incensed youth were reportedly protesting against the way the church is being administered by its branch pastor, Captain Yeboah, who they accused of running the church like his personal property.

The dexterity of the Kumasi Overseer of the church averted further embarrassment after he was able to talk the youth into agreeing to retreat, to allow church service to go on while appropriate avenues were found to address their grievances.

The enraged youth backtracked and agreed to allow proceedings to go on after the exhaustive protest, delaying church service.

A youth leader of the church, who refused to be identified, told The Chronicle that members of the church were not happy about the way things were being managed.

According to him, the youth of the church have made several appeals to the authorities to  run the church like any other orthodox religious institution have proved futile, hence  their decision to organize the protest .

According to him, leaders of the church entrusted to run affairs for a specific period of time have refused to bring their stewardship to an end, even though their time is due.

The agitated youth leader explained that the decision to protest followed information gathered that the leadership of the church were planning to impose new executives to run the affairs without following due process.

A crisis meeting, chaired by the Kumasi Overseer, meanwhile, was in the process, at the time the paper visited the premises.

A local member of the church, who confirmed the incident, declined to comment further, except to say that the matter would be resolved by the close of the day.