I’ll be merciless with classroom churches – Accra Mayor

Accra Mayor Alfred Vanderpuije has said he will be iron-fisted against churches that operate in classrooms.

The Metropolitan Assembly has given those makeshift churches up to the end of July this year to relocate or face sanctions.

The Assembly complains that the classroom churches destroy school infrastructure and thus end up frustrating teaching and learning.

The Concerned Clergy Association expressed qualms about the directive and insisted that the churches have a symbiotic relationship with their host schools, which must be respected.

The group’s Spokesperson Bishop Prince Benny Wood told Morning Starr host Kafui Dey last week Thursday that: “It was very surprising to me because I work very closely with the AMA in terms of church location and church activities but I heard this directive only on Wednesday”.

He said it is unfair for the AMA to create the impression that the churches just decide on their own to worship in any classroom they deem fit.

“The AMA is not involved in the agreement between the church and the school authorities. In most of the times, it is between the church and the school authority and once the school authorities allow; the agreement is made.

“The schools benefit from it (agreement), some of them get financial support and in terms of maintaining the schools, the church is involved,” he stated.

But the Mayor insists he will carry through with the directive without mercy.

“If you say temper justice with mercy…no, there are certain things you can’t be merciful about…our religious life is very important but our religious life also tells us we must care for our children,” he told Kafui Dey Tuesday.

According to him, most of the churches operating classrooms have now become so irresponsible to the extent that they virtually destroy the classrooms.