It has emerged that the collapsed four-storey building at Akyem Batabi, in the Birim Central District of the Eastern Region, was originally granted permit as a one-storey structure.
According to a report by the committee that investigated the collapsed of the two decades old building of the Church of Prosperity nearly a month ago, the founder of the church, Nakoa Isaac, had secured permit for the construction of a one-storey building.
However, the plan changed later to four-storey building complex with the Prophet’s residence on top.
The executive summary of the committee’s report also cited “institutional failure and poor workmanship,” as the main causes of the the collapse of the church building.
Some 22 congregants of the popular church died while eight others sustained varied degrees of injuries, following the collapse of the building on October 20, 2020.
A church member who was in the building at the time of the incident, is yet to be found with the report indicating that the person could have died in the collapse.
Rescue workers combed the ruble for days to try to save persons trapped in the debris but the lack of logistics could not help save the situation.
The Executive Summary however blames the collapse on the lack of supervision on the part of the works department of the assembly as well as poor workmanship on the part of the artisans who had been working on the project since the year 2,000.
The artisans, it noted, did not follow the required procedures.
Below is the executive summary of the report:
