Sam Korankye Ankrah

Early life

Korankye Ankrah was born to J. O. Ankrah and Victoria Ziddah on February 23, 1960, the 22nd of his polygamous father’s 24 children and the fifth of his mother’s seven children. His mother, a Presbyterian, had him baptized as Samuel in the Presbyterian church, and he attended Accra High School and Saint John’s Grammar Secondary School in Accra, was inspired to pursue a career in religion following a visit by the evangelistic group Joyful Way Incorporated. He later attended the University of Ghana, where he started the Showers of Blessing Incorporated (SOBI) evangelistic ministry in 1984. He graduated the same year. He also holds certificates in Christian Leadership, from Haggai Institute in Singapore and Management and Entrepreneurship from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

Spiritual experience and founding Royalhouse Chapel International

Following his studies, Korankye Ankrah traveled to the Netherlands, where claims to have had a spiritual experience on June 19, 1991, where God told him to return to ministry full-time in Ghana. Before his return to Ghana in November 1992, he had given approval for his wife, Rev. Mrs. Rita Korankye Ankrah, to start Sunday services with members of the Showers of Blessings, which took place at the GES Model Nursery School in Accra with 12 adults and 12 children attending the first Sunday service.

Korankye Ankrah assumed leadership of the church in January 1993, when membership grew from 30 to 150 adults, leading to the church reloacating to the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) canteen in 1994 and to its own property in November 2000. As of that time the church membership had grown to about 5,000. After 10 years at Bank for Housing and Construction (Accra Ghana), Ankrah's wife joined Royalhouse Chapel International as a full-time minister in 1998, and was named Premier Lady of the organization. Today the church about 30,000 members, with 120 local assemblies, 20 international missions, and departments including media ministries, church administration, a Christian Leadership College, and a department of social services.

In 2013, he claimed that God had told him that retired Ghanaian footballer and former captain of Ghana’s national football team Stephen Appiah would become a pastor. Appiah replied that he would consider pursuing a career as minister with the Royal House Chapel, of which he was a member."

Controversy over wealth

In 2011, he was named by Ghana Nation as one of the wealthiest pastors in Ghana, with reporters noting that his children were schooled abroad, and he lived "in a palace-like mansion at Sakaman Estates in Accra", and that he had a "fleet of cars." He issued a statement, "I will not lie to you; say to the whole world that I say that by our position as men of God, we definitely attract blessings of which includes money, but for me it is the following and the people which is more important and the more we serve them, the more they show us kindness at the least opportunity."

Humanitarian works

Korankye Ankrah has created initiatives to address the problems of those in need. Programs he has founded include Outreach for Comfort, Rescue to the needy, Ministry to the Aged, Hospital and Prisons Outreaches and Scholarship Schemes for Bright but Needy Students.

Affiliations

Korankye Ankrah serves as the first vice president of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC), which was formed in 1969. He is the CEO of Powerline Media Ministries, a non-profit organization with radio and television in Ghana as well as internationally. In addition, he is the founder of Covenant Ministers Fellowship Incorporated.

Awards and honors

In 2008, Korankye Ankrah received the Order of the Volta award, one of Ghana's highest honors, from Ghana's president for his charitable work in the areas of health and education. In 2009, he received the Angel of the Year Award from Pristine Hub and TV Africa. In 2011, he received the William Seymour award for Excellence and Humility in Leadership from The Azusa Revival Directorate. In 2012, he was awarded with the Global Award for Apostolic/Pastoral Excellence by the Global Leadership Training Organisation, in recognition of his work to ensure integrity in leadership in the West African Sub-region. In 2013, he received an Honorary Award of the Humanitarian Services of the Year from the Excellent Leadership Awards Group (EXLA), for his humanitarian works.

Personal life

Korankye Ankrah met his wife, Rev. Rita Korankye Ankrah, in 1982, and they were married in 1986. The couple has four children: Nana Akos, Paapa, Naa Dromo and Mawuena.