Man, 89 vanishes during church worship

THE SECURITY agents, particularly the police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) will have to dig deep into their investigative apparatus to unravel the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Opanin Tupamacha Eburey, 89, the oldest surviving elder of the Musama Disco Christo Church (MDCC). Opanin Tupamacha is reported to have rushed to his house to check something during Sunday worship at Mozano near Agona Swedru in the Central Region but has since vanished.

While the Pastors, elders of the church, members and the observers were still pondering the whereabouts of the elder, they were stunned when information trickled into the ancient town of Mozano that Opanin Tupamacha had been found dead in a bush at the Cables and Wireless park at Darkuman in Accra.

The Chronicle gathered that on August 22, last month, during the church service which turned out to be his last fellowship with the members of the headquarters branch of the MDCC Opanin Tupamacha, the Opanin was given the floor during the worship to give a testimony.

The paper learnt that in the cause of his testimony, he made certain revelations about his long association with the church and recent developments and called for unity.

Shortly after the testimony, Opanin Tupamacha told some close associates that he was rushing to his house to undertake some exercise and would return shortly.

The Chronicle learnt that August 22, which turned out as the last Sunday for the deceased, was one of the most reverent days on the church?s calendar as it coincided with a 28-day special fasting and prayers session for peaceful elections by the church.

When the old man left, it rurned out that, it was the last time the congregation set eyes on him. After the church service, some members decided to call on him to find out why he had failed to show up again but when they checked his house, they could not locate him.

Since nobody was aware of his whereabout, it was suggested that he might have left for Nungua, Accra to join his wife who stayed at the popular Accra suburb. Yet checks at his wife?s place, the paper gathered, proved elusive. The old man was nowhere near Nungua.

As the search intensified, the township of Mozano went dead when information arrived days later that, Tupamacha had been found dead in the Darkuman bush.

On August 23, last month, the Darkuman Police, were hinted that an elderly person in his eighties had been found dead in a bush around the Cable$Wireless park.

Upon the tip off, some police personal were dispatched to the scene to authenticate the information. When they were directed to the place, they discovered the body of the old man.

The Chronicle learnt that the man who was in shorts with a Musama ring on one of his fingers was later identified as Opanin Tupamacha of Mozano in the central region and the father of Rev Nana Appiah, head pastor of the Accra Central branch of the MDCC.

Some of the observers who spoke to the paper did not rule out foul play. ?It surprising that Elder Tupamacha would decide to travel to Accra in shorts and we strongly believed that he was ambushed or kidnapped, killed and later dumped at Darkuman by the assailants,? a member of the church told the paper as tears run down his eyes.

The autopsy report indicated that the old man died from a spinal cord injury and this has further fueled the position among some members that there was foul play.

Meanwhile, a section of the members of the MDCC in Accra has appealed to the national security agents to conduct proper investigations into the case.

It would be recalled that early this year, two members of the church were said to have been kidnapped during church service when they visited Abeka and were reported to have been sent to the Achimota forest where they were severally assaulted but managed to escape and later reported the case to the Tesano police in Accra.