Court Orders Closure Of Noisy Church

The Adjabeng Court One has ordered the Faith Demonstration Ministry International at Darkuman to relocate by March 30, 2013. The court, presided over by Ms Patricia Quansah, directed the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to demolish the church if its leadership failed to comply with the order. The Pastor of the church, Victor Annan, was summoned to the court by the Public Health Department of the AMA and charged with non-compliance with a notice to relocate, for causing excessive noise in a residential area and operating a church without permit. Prosecuting, Ms Linda Kumbonu of the AMA Public Health Department told the court that on June 28, 2012, a complaint was lodged with the Ablekuma North Sub-metropolitan Assembly by aggrieved residents of Darkuman in connection with excessive noise-making by the church. She said a team of health officers was dispatched to inspect the church�s premises, during which it detected that the accused pastor had wrongly sited his church in a residential area, was causing noise and operating without a permit. Ms Kumbonu said the AMA summoned the church to court and it was ordered to relocate and produce documents covering its operations. The church suspended its operations for some time, but did not relocate. It started operating again, to the annoyance of the residents; a situation which compelled them to lodge another complaint with the AMA. Ms Kumbonu told the court that excessive noise was detrimental to human health and could lead to heart diseases.