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Rt Rev. Dr Bliss Divine Agbeko, leads EPCG to greater heights
He drives as a hobby, plays table tennis as a pastime and loves writing as a leisure pursuit, but the strongest passion of the former farm labourer is to serve God and humanity.
Rt Rev. Dr Lt Colonel Bliss (rtd) Divine Agbeko assumed office as the new Moderator of the General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana (EPCG) after a festive induction service at the Dela Cathedral at Ho Kpodzi on Sunday.
The retired army officer was the immediate past District Pastor of the Accra New Town District of the church.
Background
He was born in 1963 to Togbe Dzokoto IV, of Adaklu-Ahunda, who was the Senior Divisional Chief of Adaklu Traditional Area and Madam Florence Mercy Abra Gle from Gbi-Kpoeta, all in the Volta Region.
Rev. Dr Agbeko was ordained as a Minister of the EPCG on August 22, 1992 and commissioned as an officer of the Ghana Armed Forces on August 1999.
He attended Kpedze Secondary School where he obtained the General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level and proceeded to Kadjebi Secondary School for the Advanced Level.
He entered the Trinity Theological Seminary at Legon where he earned a Diploma in Theology and a Certificate in Ministry.
In 1994, he was admitted to the University of Ghana, Legon where he was awarded Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Religions in 1998.
While serving in the Ghana Armed Forces, Rev. Dr Agbeko trained as a Career Chaplain at the US Army Chaplaincy School at Fort Jackson, Columbia, South Carolina and later earned a Doctorate Degree in Ministry from the Erskine Theological Seminary, Due West, in the United States.
He progressed to train as a Clinical Counsellor at the Self-Regional Hospital, Greenwood in the United States.
Furthermore, he attended the Ghana Armed Forces Command Staff College (Junior Division) and received also a Post-Graduate Diploma in Public Administration from Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) in 2013.
Ministerial Experience
The versatile priest began his ministry as District Pastor at Mafi-Adidome in the Volta Region, where he served the church in that capacity from 1992 to 1994. He pastured the Abeka District of the EPCG in Accra from 1994 to 1998, and then worked as Chaplain at the Garrison Methodist Presbyterian Church (GMPC) at Burma Camp in Accra.
He enlisted into the officer corps of the Ghana Armed Forces and was commissioned on August 20, 1999, as a Lieutenant.
After commissioning, he continued to serve at the GMPC until September 2000, when he was assigned to the 6 Garrison Tamale (comprising 6 Battalion at Kamina Barracks, Airborne Force and the Airforce co-related at Bawah Barracks) as Chaplain.
In 2005, he was assigned the role of Administrative Officer at the Directorate of Religious Affairs, Burma Camp and Chaplain at GMPC until 2006, when he took up the duties of Chaplain as the 37 Military Hospital and Methodist Presbyterian Church at Negheli Barracks in Accra.
Rev. Dr Agbeko served the 37 Military Hospital until 2016 when he was re-assigned to the Military Academy and Training School and the Teshie Camp Methodist Presbyterian Church (TCMPC) as Chaplain, a position he held until 2018 when he retired from the military.
He served at various times as District Pastor of the Kisseman and Adentan Districts of the EPCG in Accra, after which he was appointed the pioneer Synod Moderator of the Meridian Presbytery of the church and served in that capacity from 2014 to 2019.
Before entering priesthood, Rev. Dr Agbeko worked as an evangelist of the EPCG at Dambai (now in the Oti Region) from 1983 to 1986 and also as a farm hand at the EPCG Agricultural Resettlement Project during the same period.
International Experience
His immense international experiences include: Second Minister, First Presbyterian Church, PCUSA Greenwood, USA; Pastor/Fundraiser of Erskine Theological Seminary, USA; Hospital Staff Chaplain, Self-Regional Healthcare, Greenwood.
In the military front, Rev. Dr Agbeko took part in United Nations (UN) Operations, MONUC GH 2, Peace Keeping in DR Congo in 2002; UN Operations, UNIFIL GH 10, Sierra Leone in 2004, UN Operations, UNIFIL GH 77, Lebanon 2013 and Liaison Officer, All African Conference of Military Chaplains, La Palm, Accra in 2013.
His publications include Biblical Theological and Psychological bases for Training Chaplains, Golden Principles for Self-Discovery, Improvement and Fulfilment, Pray But Pray Alright; and Evening Meal Divisional.
In a chat with The Spectator, Rev. Dr Agbeko, married with four children, said that his father had all along wanted him to become a lawyer, “but I also insisted that the Bible was a law book”.
The friendly priest said that his priorities as the Moderator of the General Assembly of the EPCG included leading the church in the will of God while working with all and sundry to revive it to greater heights.
He contended that that the military also needs “religious direction and guidance,” hence his decision to train as an army officer.
The Moderator of the General Assembly of the EPCG speaks Ewe, Twi and English.
He is the second native of Adaklu to lead the EPCG in that capacity, many decades after the Very Reverend Andreas Aku from Adaklu-Waya served the church as its first Moderator, and left office in 1922.
BY ALBERTO MARIO NORETTI
He once sold kenkey to pay his school fees, and now wears the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police. DCOP Kofi Sarpong, police officer and award winning gospel musician is charting a journey few could script.
In an interview with The Spectator chronicling his rise, the newly promoted DCOP took us on his journey through the ranks.
Early Life
“I was born in Berekum in the Bono Region, then Brong Ahafo, to Comfort Yeboah, affectionately called Maame Yaa, and the late Chief Inspector Kofi Sarpong,” he said.
His family story is one of resilience. His mother had two children before her husband died in an accident. She later married Kofi Sarpong’s father, a police officer, and had two more, himself and his junior brother. “So we are four, unfortunately one is deceased, just last year, so we are three now.”
School and struggle
He started at Berekum Methodist Primary under the old ‘Sito’ system. In Form Two, he moved to Obuasi to stay with a guardian for his Form Three education, then returned to Berekum for Form Four. He later attended Berekum Senior High School where he studied General Arts and shone as an athlete, a sprinter in the 100m, 200m and 4x400m relay.
After O-Levels, his batch was the last to write the exams, his dream was to become a teacher because of his love for children. But financial hardship forced a detour.
“I decided to help myself by going to buy maize and started preparing kenkey to sell at lorry parks and markets in Berekum,” he recalled.
According to him, the people from Berekum know this story. “I can make all types of kenkey, Fante Kenkey, Ga Komi and others. Don’t be surprised to see Kofi Sarpong Kenkey one day.” The proceeds paid his upkeep.
For this reason, he advised the youth “Don’t see life as a smooth journey but find something prudent to do to help yourself in difficult times.”
After grinding his education to a halt due to financial challenges, he now holds a Degree in Public Administration from GIMPA, a Master’s in International Relations and Diplomacy and Project Management, plus other higher certificates, with more in the offing.
The Police Call
When teaching did not materialise immediately, he moved to stay with his father at Osu, Accra. In 1994, he visited former IGP Nana Owusu-Nsia at Police Headquarters, who told about ongoing police enlistment.
In his head he declined, but outwardly he accepted to try reluctantly. Later, watching TV news and seeing long queues of young people aspiring to join the Police, he was inspired to reconsider.
He went to Berekum for his certificate. Accra enlistment had closed, so he joined the Kumasi exercise. He was selected, passed the exams and went to the Koforidua Police Training School, Galloway. After passing out, he was posted to the Logistics Unit at Police Headquarters.
At Headquarters, a senior officer encouraged young constables to further their education. He took a course in Purchasing and Supply via distance learning from a UK institution. 
Upon completion, the Police administration promoted him from Constable Class One to Chief Inspector, a leap that paved the way for him to enrol at the Police Academy. He graduated as ASP, and the climb to DCOP began.
“The officer corps starts from Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) from the cadet,” he explained. “When you graduate from the Police Academy, you are awarded ASP, and you move to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), that’s when I released album to start my music career professionally.”
From there, he rose to Superintendent of Police (SP), Chief Superintendent, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), and now Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP). Next is Commissioner of Police (COP).
Music found him in Sudan
On peacekeeping duty in Sudan, officers from different nations came together to hold fellowship led by a Nigerian officer. In December that year, with top-ranked officers present, Kofi Sarpong led the service to the admiration of all.
On his return to Ghana, a Colonel, who was a Matron at 37 Military Hospital and a member of the 37 Methodist-Presbyterian Church invited him to their harvest service. He ministered, and as he stepped out of church, a man approached him with an offer to record him. He declined.
Days later, at the office, the man, Ernest Kwesi, who owned Media Excel Production sent an elderly man to pursue him. He still declined. This compelled Ernest Kwesi himself to visit him at the office. “He told me he had seen something in me.”
Just after Ernest Kwesi left,Kofi Sarpong wrote to then Director General/Welfare, Mohammed Alhassan, and Paul Tawiah Quaye the Inspector General of Police (IGP) at the time. “He opened the letter and said he had been waiting all this while because he had seen me perform at police officers’ events.”
He was summoned to the IGP’s office, a call which scared him, however, it was a good news; his request was approved. Against this backdrop, he informed Ernest Kwesi who quickly visited that evening with highlife musician Akwaboah Jnr., who taught him his first song, ‘Me ko nso hw3 mu’, and they went to the studio.
A song earlier recorded in reggae by Zapp Mallet was totally transformed by Nacee, so they released both versions on the album. Nacee, he says, hugely supported promotion, as did Mark Okraku-Mantey.
He also acknowledge Oware Jnr. who also wrote songs for him.
After his maiden album’s success, police leadership congratulated him. He says he is happy to have inspired other officers to write to the Service to pursue other interests.
An autobiography, he reveals, is in the offing.
Family and food
He is married to Mrs Salomey Sarpong with three children, two boys and a girl: Nana Nketiah, Maame Afia Yeboah Sarpong and Papa Kwabena Aseda Sarpong.
His hobbies are watching athletics and being with family. His favourite foods are fufu and konkonte with groundnut soup.
On music, he teased a collaboration with a top Nigerian artiste, promising fans “hot praises” soon.
He concluded by thanking Ghanaians for their support since his promotion, and thanked the Inspector General of Police for his guidance.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
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WHEN some of her pupils failed to show up at school, Mary Adotei did not always assume they were absent. Sometimes, she went looking for them.
In the communities where she taught, getting a child into the classroom could require more than preparing lessons. Mrs Adotei remembers occasions when she had to visit the homes of pupils, bathe them, prepare them and bring them to school herself.
“There were times I had to go to the homes of some of the children, bathe them and bring them to school,” she recalled.
It is a memory that captures much of her journey over the years as a teacher, a profession she entered without knowing it would become central to her identity.
Now, after years of working with children and communities, Mrs Adotei is taking lessons from the classroom into a new arena.
She is contesting the position of Women’s Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Asikuma Odoben Brakwa (AOB) Constituency in the Central Region, hoping to use her experience working with people to contribute to the welfare of women in the constituency.
But her story begins in the classroom.
After completing her basic and secondary education, Mrs Adotei spent 12 years working as a pupil teacher before she had the opportunity to receive professional training.
In 2006, she entered Fosu College of Education and completed her training in 2011 with a Diploma in Basic Education.
She returned to the classroom and has remained there since, teaching in different communities before moving to her current school, Catholic Boys Basic School in Breman Asikuma, in 2019.
The years have given her a front-row seat to the transformation education can bring.
Some of the children she once taught have grown into professionals, carrying the lessons they learnt in her classroom into hospitals, schools, offices and other workplaces.
Mrs Adotei said she had encountered former pupils who were now doctors, nurses, teachers and even a lawyer.
For a teacher, she said, such moments bring a special kind of satisfaction and reinforce the reason she remains passionate about education.
Her journey, however, has not been without difficult moments.
Teaching in local communities sometimes meant dealing with circumstances that went beyond academic work. Some pupils needed encouragement, personal attention and practical help before they could even settle down to learn.
Those experiences taught her that the challenges confronting people cannot always be solved from a distance. That understanding has followed her into her political activities.
Mrs Adotei has been involved in the NDC for years and previously served as a branch treasurer. She has also supported women in her branch, including assisting some to access medical treatment and providing help to families when the need arose.
She is now making her third attempt at becoming the constituency’s Women’s Organiser.
Her motivation is linked to what she has seen around her.
Mrs Adotei wants women in the constituency to have access to skills and opportunities that can help them become more economically independent.
She believes her years as a teacher have prepared her for the work, too, because the profession has taught her to listen, communicate, understand different circumstances and work patiently with people.
For her, the transition from teacher to political organiser is therefore not a complete departure from the path she has followed.
The classroom taught her to work with individuals. Politics, she hopes, will give her the opportunity to work with a wider group of women.
If elected, Mrs Adotei intends to continue teaching while taking up her political responsibilities. She said she would organise her time to attend meetings and constituency activities without abandoning her duties to her pupils.
Away from school and politics, she is a wife and mother of two sons who are pursuing their degrees at university.
Her message to young girls is shaped by everything she has seen education do for the children she has taught.
For Mrs Adotei, education remains one of the strongest tools available to young people, especially girls seeking to build better futures.
She wants them to stay in school, pursue further education and acquire skills that will prepare them for the future.
“Nowadays, you cannot go forward without education,” she said.
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
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