Reverend Father Friar Yvess Evaga Njana, the Cameroonian Catholic priest who has been dragged to the Family and Juvenile Court in Accra for allegedly having a child with a 24-year-old Ghanaian lady and failing to live up to his responsibilities, has denied paternity of the child.

The priest, who is also the Country’s Director of the Ghana branch of the Biblical Centre for Africa and Madagascar (BICAM), said the lady in question, Josephine Gannyoame, was just maligning and blackmailing him.

He said Josephine and a man she claimed was her uncle had already collected an amount of GHC 20,000 from him as a result of the supposed pregnancy.

Josephine Ganyoame claimed she had sexual affairs with the Catholic Priest at his residence on three occasions.

After the sexual encounters resulted in pregnancy, she said the priest told her to “flush it out”.

“I said what? I’m not ready to kill,” she told Joy Fm.

She claimed that Father Yves-Lucien to her to the Obaatampa Women Hospital at East Legon for an abortion but she refused to terminate the pregnancy.

According to her, Father Yves-Lucien thereafter gave her an amount of GHC 20, 000 for her upkeep, disclosing that she used GHC 9, 600 to rent a single room self-contained apartment at East Legon at GHC 200 per month for three years, with the rest of the money going into her upkeep and an amount of GHC6, 000 going into the acquisition of a plot land at Afienya.

Vindication

However, counsel for the embattled Catholic priest, Akenyah of A&A Chambers, told Daily Guide that his client would only be vindicated if the paternity of the child was established.

The last time this paper contacted her, she claimed the baby was with a relative in Togo.

Narrating how his client, Father Friar Yvess met the lady, Mr. Akenyah said in 2014 Friar Yvess visited a friend at East Legon and while negotiating a curve, his vehicle knocked a lady (Josephine).

Initially, Fr Yvess thought the lady was injured so he went to her rescue and even requested that he takes her to the nearest clinic for medical attention but the lady said she was okay.

My client then gave the lady his card to contact him in case she discovered any injury and needed medical care.

Job Hunt

Three days later, the lady called Fr Yvess on phone and during their conversation she told him she was looking for a job, he stated.

Fr Yvess then asked Josephine what her qualification was and she told him she was a Senior High School leaver.

The priest then decided to help her continue her education after the lady claimed her dad was a retired teacher and did not have the money to further her education.

According to the council, Josephine was asked to apply for further studies, which she did by enrolling at the University of Professional Studies (UPSA), Accra with the fees fully paid by Fr Yvess.

The lawyer said Josephine started making more demands for school fees, which made Fr Yvess to regret his decision to assist the lady.

Mr. Akenyah said when the priest decided not to give in to her unnecessary financial demands, the lady decided to blackmail him by claiming she was pregnant.

Blackmail

Josephine, accompanied by a man she claimed was an uncle, reportedly visited Fr Yvess’ residence to claim that the priest had impregnated her. They subsequently demanded that an amount of GHC30,000 be given to them or they would go to the press.

They followed up with numerous calls and text messages and finally got the priest to negotiate with them and finally collected an amount of GHC 20000 from him.

When the baby was born, Fr Yvess was not in the country then but when he returned, he visited the lady and the baby and even bought some clothing for the child, the lawyer indicated, adding, “The clothing, we later heard, was not given to the baby but was sent to a pastor of the lady who claimed Fr Yvess was into occultism and wanted to kill the baby.”

The Lawyer further stated that the Fr Yvess then visited the child four conservative times an often gave them money anytime he visited and when he demanded that a DNA test be conducted to ascertain the paternity of the child, the lady declined.

After waiting for six months, Fr Yvess reportedly decided not to part with any money until the paternity of the baby was established and that was when the lady started running to media houses to claim Fr Yvess had failed to take care of the child.

The priest’s counsel claimed that initially some media houses contacted F Yvess and when they heard his side of the story, they went away and never published the story.

“As a Lawyer, I called Josephine to my office and advised that since she also had a Lawyer, the two of us could meet and arrange for the test but she told me the child was not with her.

Later, I was told Josephine, in the company of three other men, went to the office of the priest for money and when the priest declined, she created a scene and left,” Lawyer Akenyah said.

He said, “Fr Yvess wants to clear his name since he has not had sex with the lady and is innocent. The matter is even being investigated by his superiors and the issue of paternity will again come up in due time.”

The lawyer expressed delight that “the matter is now in court and when the paternity is established, my client will have his respite and the peace of mind to continue with his work.”

Josephine Ganyoame is praying the court for an order for the priest to subject himself to a paternity test to determine the father of the child.

She also requested that the court should declare that the irresponsibility of the priest breaches the child’s right to a name, basic necessities of life, welfare, social protection and care guaranteed under the Children’s Act.

Ms Ganyoame is also praying the court for custody of the child with reasonable access to the priest.

In addition, she is also asking for a monthly maintenance fee of GHC 600 and GHC 50,000 as compensation for the emotional stress she has been put through by the priest.

The court will hear the case on April 20, 2016.