Man fathers five children with own daughter

Kwabenya, a suburb of Accra, has been rocked by the bizarre story of a self-proclaimed prophet of the 'I am I am' Nazareth Church, who allegedly fathered five children with his own daughter and murdered three of them under mysterious circumstances.

According to the Accra branch of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, which is investigating the case, three of the five children, who were all males, died under mysterious circumstances and were buried secretly after the suspect, Anthony Rowland Sampson Bleworda, 52, had performed some occultic rituals.

The daughter “wife” is currently receiving treatment and counselling while their two female children have also been sent to a shelter for rehabilitation.

Briefing the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, the Public Affairs Officer of DOVVSU, Inspector Irene Oppong, said during the early hours of last Thursday, neighbours of Bleworda saw the “couple” naked in their yard with the man running after the woman.

She said the couple later dragged their two little daughters into their room and locked themselves in.

She said some of the onlookers, sensing danger that something could be happening to the family, broke into the room and rescued the two children and their mother to the premises of Christ Miracle Power Mission International at New Ashongman, on suspecting that the woman was mentally disturbed.

According to Inspector Oppong, some of the neighbours later handed over the suspect to the police for investigation. She said the woman on September 26, 2008, openly confessed to being the biological daughter of Bleworda.

Inspector Irene Oppong said investigations had so far revealed that the suspect, an ex-soldier, left Ghana in 1986 for Germany at a time the daughter was only six years old.

According to her, the victim was staying with her aunt at Teshie Camp and joined her father for about a month before he (the suspect) returned to Germany again. Inspector Irene Oppong said the suspect developed interest in his daughter on seeing her and often allegedly laced drinks and food with Indian hemp for her.

She said the suspect would then sexually abuse the victim, something which she said took place during the one month that she stayed with her father.

Upon returning to her aunt, she said, it was detected that the victim was pregnant but she failed to disclose the person responsible for the pregnancy.

Inspector Irene Oppong said the suspect returned from Germany the second time and took custody of the daughter to Brekuso in the Eastern Region. She explained that on his first return in 2002, the suspect was staying at Taifa Burkina before relocating to Brekuso and finally to Kwabenya.

Inspector Irene Oppong said the victim told investigators that she confessed to her mother about what had been going on between her and her father after reading from the Bible that it was a sin for one to sleep with his or her parents or siblings. According to her, the victim, who is now 28 years of age, started behaving abnormally after the confession.

Inspector Irene Oppong said the police had intensified their investigations and indicated that the Homicide Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) would visit the burial sites of the deceased children to unravel the mystery surrounding their deaths.