Prophetess forces daughter to divorce man of God

Sunyani (Brong Ahafo Region) - A two-member panel of the Police Women and Juvenile Unit (WAJU) at Sunyani was thrown into a state of disbelief when a 24-year-old woman, Esther Frimpong, narrated how her mother, a prophetess, was exerting undue pressure on her to break up her three-year-old marriage with a pastor.

Prophetess Naomi Kumi Frimpong, also known as Naomi Kumi Nyarko, founder and leader of Resurrections Life Power, at Fiapre near Sunyani, was said to have played a major role in the marriage of her daughter but has now kicked against it. She is said to have banned her daughter from entering into her house for refusing to break up the marriage. She is also demanding all the items she gave to her in the course of the marriage. They include a set of furniture, a refrigerator, gas cooker, buckets and pieces of wax-prints.

Fed up with the pressure and determined to stick to her husband named Pastor Frank Frimpong, head pastor of Jordan Prayer Ministry, in Sunyani, Esther on January 31, sought the intervention of the WAJU. The panel members, comprising Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Alex Yartey Tawiah, head of WAJU and Inspector Setina Aboagye, were told that Pastor Frimpong was organsing fellowship together with the Prophetess in her church in 1999 as a leading pastor.

Due to some problems, Pastor Frimpong decided to quit and rather concentrate on his own ministry in the latter part of the year. This did not go down well with the Prophetess who began to pressurise her daughter to end the marriage. According to Esther, her mother believes she knows everything about her church's activities and thinking she might reveal her secrets to her husband, she constantly put pressure on her daughter to end the marriage.

But when Prophetess Kumi Frimpong was invited by WAJU on 1 February 2002, drama unfolded when she quoted Leviticus Chapter 18 verses 17 which says, "Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter." Sending the panel members into uncontrollable laughter, Prophetess Kumi Frimpong alleged that Pastor Frank Frimpong on 9 August 2000, raped her in her own room.

The pastor was said to have laced a coca-cola drink with a sedative and given it to her. She became dazed after taking the drink whereupon the pastor capitalised on her comatose state and raped her. The case, she said, was even pending before a Sunyani High Court.

She explained that it was at that crime which made her sack the pastor from her church contrary to what her daughter said. "I could not harbour him anymore, and the only way to free myself from the ordeal was to ensure that I take back my daughter," she stressed. ASP Yartey Tawiah, however, asked the Prophetess to exercise restraint and not to exert too much pressure as the case would be dealt with.

"The Spectator" in its 29 December 2001 to 5 January 2002 issue carried the story under the headline "Did the Pastor rape his in-law? High Court to decide." In the story, the Sunyani High Court was to determine whether the head pastor of Jordan Prayer Ministry did rape his mother-in-law or not.

Pastor Frank Frimpong, 29, was said to have offered a soft drink laced with a sedative to the 61-year-old mother-in-law. She got dazed after taking the drink and, in this condition, he reportedly raped her.

The accused had gone to visit his mother-in-law, Madam Naomi Kumi at About 11.30 pm on December 11. After they exchanged greetings, the accused sent one of the children in the house to buy soft drinks for the two of them. A few minutes later, the girl returned with the drinks. The woman then went out to look for an opener to serve the drinks. Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Alex Yartey Tawiah, told the tribunal that the incident happened in August 2000, in the room of the victim.