There was uneasy calm Tuesday morning July 7, 2020, in the Ashanti Region capital, Kumasi, as street preachers fight the Assembly’s taskforce over seizure of Public announcement machines, for breaching noise regulation.
Taskforce of the Kumasi Metropolitan Authority (KMA) had embarked on an operation to arrest street preachers who breach KMA noise regulation and failure to renew preaching license.
Some street preachers who preach at Kumasi Central Business District (CBD) had their machines seized by the taskforce for breaching the by-laws of the Assembly.
A victim, Evangelist Joseph Marfo, admitted that he had not renewed his preaching license for the year.
“I’m angry because I told them to exercise patience and allow me to preach today. They didn’t understand me and seized my machines. Though they have the right to seize the machines, we preach to win souls for Jesus Christ and not to make money,” he claimed.
The Noise Control Officer for KMA, George Brave Gyebi Boateng, said majority of street preachers in Kumasi are not adhering to the street preaching regulations.
According to him, street preachers who are abusing noise in the metropolis will be arrested by the taskforce.
“It is so pathetic that some street preachers in Kumasi are not adhering to KMA’s street preaching directives. There is too much noise in Kumasi and people always blame KMA for not enforcing the law. We will continue to chase street preachers who will not adhere to our directives,” Mr. Mr. Boateng said.