A pastor who unilaterally took over as the President of a church has been slapped with a GH₵15,000.00 cost by the Court of Appeal over a 15-year-old protracted church litigation.

The Court of Appeal in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, was presided by Justice A.M.Domakyaareh (Mrs) with two other, Justices, Alex B. Poku-Acheampong and S. K. A. Asiedu.

Aside the cost, the Court further ordered that Pastor Micaiah Addai, should convene a general meeting with the entire members of the Seventh Day Pentecostal Assemblies in Ghana, within six months from the date of judgement (28 – 04 – 2022) to elect new president to run the affairs of the entity in accordance with the constitution of the church.

In a unanimous judgement read by Justice Domakyaareh (Mrs), the Court took part of an earlier judgement of a Kumasi High Court in consideration to conclude the case.

Also in the court on the judgement daywere the Solicitors of the Appellants and Defendant/Respondent, Lawyer Charles Agbenu and Lawyer Andrew Acquaye and Michael Agyeman Anokye respectively.

Passing judgement, the Court noted that the alleged controversy between the Appellants and Defendant started in 2007 when the Founder and Leader of the church (Seventh Day Pentecostal Assemblies) Elder Enoch Ofori Snr, passed on.

After the death of the founder, Pastor Addai, a relative of the founder, who was then heading one of the church’s branches at Kumasi Tafo, allegedly schemed to impose himself as the President of the church and packed his things to the headquarters of the church at Adiebeba,in Kumasi, to assume office.

Pastor Addai’s conduct was seen as a violation of the constitution of the church that stipulated that elections would be held to elect new president after the death of the sitting president.

In view of that, Elder Enoch Ofori Jnr, together with some of the church members forwarded the case to a High Court, Kumasi, in 2009 to seek justice.

But the Court of Appeal observed that after the judgement, Pastor Addai refused to comply with the High Court ruling, and allegedly caused a handful of members of the church to induct him into office as the National President of the Seventh Day Pentecostal Assemblies, which to the Appellants, blatantly violated the church Constitution.

That was the subject matter that triggered the appeal at the Court of Appeal in Kumasi by Elder Enoch Ofori Jnr and three others against the Respondent, Pastor Addai.

The Court indicated that the establishment of a church was a process governed by law, ought to be registered by law with the Registrar of Companies after fulfilling all the requiste requirements for a certificate of registration to be issued to it as a company limited under guarantee.

But in Pastor Addai’s claim, he was not able to produce any documents or certificate to that effect.

According to the Appeal Court what favoured the Respondent was the fact that he claimed to have been inducted to hold himself as the National President of the church as the High Court took into consideration.

Adding that, the trial judge of the High Court only relied on a part of the Article III (c) of the constitution of the church to say that since induction took place on November 7, 2009, Pastor Addai should head the church.

She said by the interpretation of the constitution of the church the defendant could not use induction to assume the presidency of the church since induction had nothing to do with election, as the two words had different meanings.

“Our overall evaluation of this Appeal shows clearly that the Appellants have substantially made a case, and accordingly the judgement of the High Court in Kumasi is hereby set aside in part”, the Appeal court pointed out.

“And the defendant/Respondent (Micaiah Addai) is ordered to convene a general meeting with all the Constituents of the Seventh Day Pentecostal Assemblies in Ghana within six months from the date of the judgement (28th April, 2022) to elect a new president to run the affairs of the church”, the judgement concluded.

From Kingsley E.Hope,Kumasi