The late pastor
Thirty-eight-year-old Francis Nabegmado, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his uncle, the then Head Pastor of the Central Assemblies of God Church at Tema in 2018.
After nearly seven years of trial, a seven-member jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict after it found that the convict was responsible for the death of Rev. Dr. David Nabegmado on December 30, 2018.
The prosecution, led by Frederick Adu-Gyamfi, a Senior State Attorney, was able to prove the guilt of the accused person after calling five witnesses.
The convict, according to court documents, killed his uncle after claiming the senior pastor was a false preacher engaged in idol worship and human sacrifices.
The documents further indicate that the convict stabbed his uncle to death at the church premises where the deceased was preparing to deliver a sermon.
Rev. Nabegmado was scheduled to minister to the church on Sunday, December 30, 2018, at 9am, when he was accosted while moving from the church office into the main auditorium for the day’s service.
Rev. Nabegmado later died at the Tema General Hospital, where he was taken for treatment after the attack.
The convict was later arrested and the murder weapon was retrieved. The police also retrieved a half-bottle of Kasapreko, turpentine in a plastic bottle, and matches.
The brutal murder of the head pastor sent shock waves through the church, with its leadership having to wait for nearly seven years to see the conviction and subsequent imprisonment of the assailant.
At the time of his arrest, Francis told journalists that he killed his uncle because the uncle had tried to kill him several times in spiritual battles.
Francis also said his uncle’s attempts to kill him involved seeking spiritual help from Benin and Burkina Faso.
The murder of the head pastor enraged some residents of the community, who nearly lynched Francis when he was caught.
Videos from the scene of the arrest showed the suspect bleeding profusely from his head as a policeman tried to calm the angry mob around, some of whom were striking the suspect with their hands and sticks.
The jury, after listening to the summing-up of both the prosecution’s five witnesses and the convict’s one witness, retired to deliberate and later returned a unanimous guilty verdict.
Asked whether he had anything to say, Francis appealed to the court to sentence him to a prison in Yendi, so that he could be closer to his family.
But the trial judge, Justice Mary Yanzuh, said that was not something she could do, adding that prison authorities should handle that.
The court subsequently sentenced him to life imprisonment.
Reacting to the verdict and sentencing, the current Senior Pastor of the Assemblies of God Church in Tema, Rev. Emmanuel Kwesi Ofori, welcomed the decision, saying justice had been served.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak