Man, 32, Climbs To Be Closer To God

DO you remember the ‘tree man’ of Adabraka in Accra, who made news headlines last February, the young man, said to have lived on top of a tree near the Catholic Holy Spirit Cathedral for six months and who refused to climb down?

Well, Ejisu in Ashanti recorded its version of this strange occurrence on last Thursday. A 32-year-old man, was this time found precariously perching on a high tension pylon and it took some doing before he was persuaded to come down.

According to Konongo divisional police sources, the man, who gave his name as Thomas Kwasi Ameyaw was said to have been up there since Wednesday and had vowed to descend only when his mother, who he said lives in Takoradi, came over, reports David Owusu-Antwi.

He gave the bewildered onlookers a telephone number to contact his mother. The mother, however, said she could not make the trip.

When attempts by a team from the Electricity Company to rescue Ameyaw had failed, the concerned onlookers called the local fire station which dispatched personnel to the scene. They finally succeeded in persuading him to come down.

According to a Joy FM report, afterwards, the firemen offered him two balls of kenkey of which he ate one. He was then handed over to the Ejisu police.

The police said giving reasons for his strange action, Ameyaw told the crowd that he was frustrated in life because he was unable to take care of his set of twin children.

Ameyaw said he was residing at Madina in Accra with his mother and grandfather until early this month when his grandfather said he could no longer live with him.

Ameyaw is reported to have said upon his mother’s advice, he went to Wenchi, in the Brong-Ahafo Region, to stay with his father for some time.

On his way back to Accra, other passengers on the bus accused him of disturbing them as a result of which the driver stopped and asked him to get off the vehicle.

The police further quoted Ameyaw as saying that when he got off the bus, he wandered in the bush until he got to the pylon and decided to climb up to get closer to God and free himself from suffering.

He is now in the custody of the police.

In February, this year a man identified only as Korshie made the top of a tree opposite the Holy Spirit Cathedral at Adabraka his home. Korshie was later removed form his abode by a team from the Ghana National Fire Service.‘