Downpour disrupts church services in Sunyani Municipality

Many Christians kept indoors on Sunday morning in parts of Sunyani Municipality because of a downpour that disrupted church services’ attendance.

Expectant worshippers were disappointed as the rains, which followed a heavy storm set in around 0700 hours.

During a visit by the Ghana News Agency (GNA), most of the church buildings, particularly the orthodox churches were closed.

But, the GNA sighted few churches being held in classrooms opened in the Bono Regional capital for worshippers following the government’s lessening of the COVID-19 restrictions.

The Christ the King Catholic Cathedral, St Anselm’s Anglican Cathedral, Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, and the Wesley Cathedral of the Methodist Church Ghana in Sunyani were all closed.

Nonetheless at the ‘Nyamaa’ and ‘Boahen Korkor’ basic schools, some classrooms had been opened by some ‘one-man’ (individually-founded) churches for their worshippers to arrive.

Veronica buckets were sighted in the front of the classrooms set for church services to aid handwashing with soap under running water.

As at 0900 hours, no worshipper was however sighted in those classrooms and the situation was not different at Abesim, where the downpour was heavier.

Meanwhile, the Sunyani Municipal COVID-19 prevention Taskforce led by Superintendent Haruna Alhassan of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has intensified their operations to ensure churches in the Municipality and the Sunyani West Municipality complied with safety measures.

Madam Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive told the GNA the Taskforce would visit Antwikrom, Nkrankrom, New Dormaa, Penkwase, and Atronie to monitor and ensure that organisers of church services adhered to government directives.

She said the Assembly in collaboration with the Masks Ambassadors, a group that is championing the wearing of nose masks had intensified education and supplying free nose masks to the populace in the Municipality.

"We are determined to ensure that every resident in the Municipality gets the nose masks to wear as a means to stem the spread of the COVID-19. As I talk to you now, the Ambassadors are moving around neighbourhoods and communities to supply the masses with nose masks", she said.

Madam Owusu-Banahene commended the Taskforce, Masks Ambassadors, and the Sunyani Traditional Council for their unflinching support towards the fight against the spread of the virus disease and urged the populace to contribute their quota too by complying with government restrictions and precautionary measures.

She reminded that it was compulsory for everybody in the Municipality to wear the nose mask, saying, the Taskforce would deal with those who failed to do so because they exposed themselves and others around them for possible infection by the COVID-19.