A 38-year-old ex-convict, Basilide Beyuo Baapong, who got a two-year sentence for fraud but got converted in prison, has finally graduated from a pastoral school.

Basilide, a native of Nandom in the Upper West Region, graduated last weekend from the School of Christ International at East Legon, Accra, after undergoing a three-month pastoral course.

He is currently serving his internship as a junior pastor with the Apostolic Mission International at Odorkor Tipper in Accra which sponsored his training.

In an interview with The Mirror, Basilide said until he accepted Jesus as his personal saviour, he had never led a good life. According to him, “I was a womaniser, a drunkard, never spoke the truth and I was full of tricks.

My behaviour was so disgusting that my teenage daughter once told me I looked like an ape to her.” Recounting how he fell foul of the law and had to be incarcerated, Basilide said he operated a chemical shop at Pokuase, near Accra, and assisted a friend to acquire property but later on the deal turned out to be fraudulent.

"I was arrested in September 2001, sent to the CID Headquarters in Accra, and was later arraigned before a circuit tribunal at the Cocoa Affairs court.

After I was initially remanded for a week, I was fined ?2 million or serve two years in prison in default. My life was so shattered that I could not pay the fine so I had to be sent to the Nsawam Prisons to begin the jail term." Basilide said while at Nsawam Prisons he joined the prison choir, the Prophetic Choir, and was the only male treble singer, with speciality in Zulu songs.

He added that in the sixth month of his prison life they had a guest preacher in the person of Apostle de Graft Osei Kwame, and he got attracted to the Apostle, who remarked that "if a prisoner could sing and glorify the Lord, then what would he be like if he came out of prison?"

He continued that Apostle Osei Kwame then invited him to the altar and prayed for him and led him through a repentance prayer and acceptance of Jesus Christ.

Basilide said based on a prophetic message Apostle Osei Kwame had concerning his release from prison, somebody he did not know went to the court and paid the ?2 million fine he could not pay and which landed him in prison. He was later released from prison and went to the Apostle to thank him.

According to Basilide, following a revelation the Apostle had, he was sent to the Bible school to train as a pastor.

He said when he was in prison he was a Bible school teacher, who most of the time held the fort when their guest preacher failed to turn up. He led most morning devotions and evening prayers and as well counselled his colleagues.

He described prison life as rigorous, with the survival of the fittest as the watchword. Basilide said he played a very significant role in getting Jack Beble to convert from Islam to Christianity. "I always urged him to trust in the Lord who will set him free and it worked."

Apostle Osei Kwame later told this reporter that there is the need for society to show compassion to ex-convicts and that is why he decided to support Basilide and use him in touching the lives of people.

Apostle Osei Kwame said there have been enough testimonies from prison officers about the genuineness of Basilide's association with Jesus.

He said "even the director of the pastoral school speaks well of him. He sends him to the bank and gives him his car to run errands on behalf of the school."

He therefore implored society, particularly churches, to embrace ex-convicts and help them to get integrated into society by supporting them to learn a vocation or trade.

Basilide attended Kanton Secondary at Tumu between 1973 and 1978 for his GCE ‘O’ Level. He joined the defunct GIHOC Pharmaceuticals and worked in the Quality Control Department in the production laboratory. He enrolled at the Accra Workers College to pursue his Sixth Form course. He is married with two children.