The Committee set up to
investigate the cause of the collapsed Akyem Batabi Church of Prosperity
building has observed that, the four-storey church building was constructed
with an expired permit issued 20 years ago for a single storey church building.
The Committee, set up by the
Institution of Engineering and Technology – Ghana (IET-GH) also noted among its
key findings that “In the course of the construction, the church altered the
building design to a four-storey building with the prophet’s residence on top,
without retrofitting or fortifying the original foundation meant for a single
storey church auditorium, or without consulting any building professional.
In an 88 page report, it also
observed that, although the Asene-Manso-Akroso District Assembly disinfected
the church premises against COVID-19 pandemic on October, 17, preceding the
building collapse, it did not notice any defect on the building or find out
whether the church had permit to put up such a huge structure.
The committee began its
investigations by interviewing some key stakeholders including the District
Chief Executive for Asene-Manso-Akroso District, the Divisional Police
Commander for Oda, Engineers in the Asene-Manso-Akroso District, the chairman
of the Council of Elders of the Church of Prosperity, some other elders and
members of the church.
The four-member committee
visited the church building collapse site for physical observations and caused
structural integrity test to be conducted.
The church building collapsed on October 20
entrapping and killing 22 and injuring eight members.
One other member got missing and could not be found after a
rigorous rescue operation.
After reviewing all Test Results, Physical Observations,
Interviews and Desk Study, the investigative team concluded that the cause of
the Batabi Church of Prosperity Building collapse was as a result of poor
quality workmanship and Institutional failure.
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