The decision allegedly taken by the Chairman of the Christian Divine Church (CDC), Apostle Ebenezer Boahen, to revoke the appointment of members who constitute the Executive Council of the church and that of the Trustees, despite a civil suit challenging his eligibility to hang on as leader, has sparked tension in the church.
The Chronicle understands that a meeting called at the headquarters of the church at Tarkwa, on August 27, 2022 and attended by pastors from all corners of the country ended abruptly, after Apostle Boahen reportedly informed them about the revocation of the apartments.
Though majority of the pastors who attended the meeting argued that the revocation of the appointments was illegal and that their leader did not follow due process, Apostle Boahen went ahead to appoint Pastor Samuel Awuah, head of the Offin-Dunkwa branch, as General Secretary of the church.
Pastor Jerry John Nana Appiah, a branch Pastor at Ahanta Abura, near the Takoradi branch of the church, confirmed the August 27 meeting that ended abruptly and argued that they would have had fruitful deliberations at the meeting, had their Chairman not taken the decision to revoke the appointments of the executive council members.
“He revoked the powers of the Executive Council Members and the Trustee of the church and went ahead to appoint a General Secretary for the church, in the person of Offin-Dunkwa head of the church, Pastor Samuel Awuah,” he told The Chronicle.
According to Pastor Jerry John Nana Appiah, the revocation of the appointments meant their leader wanted to turn the church into a “one man church” and continue to stay in office and that, the decision he has taken breaches the constitution of the church.
The pastor further told The Chronicle that their constitution stipulates four year tenure of office for every Chairman and that the current chairman’s mandate came to an end in January this year.
“As heads of the various branches, we (pastors) have vowed to resist the revocation and continued stay in office by the Chairman”, he said.
Attempts made by this reporter to speak to the chairman of the church proved futile. When the reporter called for the first time, the call went through alright but he did not pick up. When the reporter tried calling him the following day, the phone was off.
NOTICE OF LIABILITY FOR CONTEMPT OF COURT
Meanwhile, K. Archy & Co. Ltd., lawyers for Trustee of the church, Mrs Rosina Aryee, have served the current leadership of the CDC with a notice of liability for contempt of Court.
A statement released by the legal firm, with the headline “Re; Notice of Liability for contempt of Court” and signed by Kwaku Owusu Agyemang reads: “the attention of the Trustee of the church have been drawn to an invitation letter dated 18th of August, 2020 issued by Apostle Ebenezer Boahene, Rev Augustus A. Agyemang and Rev. John Brown, inviting all pastors and various leaders of the church to a purported emergency meeting on the 27th August 2020.
The statement reminded the candidates of the pending Court injunction order against the church, in the case of Ekow Dadzie vs. Andrews Antwi, Obadiah Sampson Awortwe and Christian Divine Church (suit no. E12/3/2022).
According to the statement, the injunction order, dated 22nd November, 2021 restrained the church and its officers from holding any such meeting as described in the invitation letter, especially on matters relating to holding of any elections of one form or another in the church, until the case was finally determined by the Court.
“Furthermore, in the two High Courts cases of Rosina Aryee & Annor vs. Ebenezer Boahen, Augustus Achina, Christian Divine Church & 2 others (suit No. GJ/0428/2022) & David Agyekum & Anor vs. Apostle Ebenezer Boahen, Ps. Augustus Achina & 2 Others (suit No. GJ/0114/2022), there are pending operative injunction motions against the above persons from interfering with the administration of the church especially on election matters and their tenure of office”.
The statement warned that any action by the candidates in question participating in the purported emergency meeting which itself was inconsistent with the dictates of the constitution of the Christian Divine Church was an obstruction of the administration of the Court pending the final determination in the aforementioned cases.
Against this background, the Lawyers strongly advised that their attendance at the purported emergency meeting of 27th August 2020, or any such meeting of that nature makes them liable for contempt of court.
As a result, the relevant contempt proceedings may be issued against them accordingly without recourse to them.
Nevertheless, the leadership of the Christian Divine Church despite the injunction notice, in a letter invited all branches to an emergency meeting called by the Interim Administration Committee.
In a letter of invitation headlined “Invitation To an Emergency Meeting Called by Interim Administration Committee” signed by Apostle Ebenezer Boahen, Rev. Augustus A. Agyeman and Rev. John Brown, they wrote “by the authority giving to us by the High Court, Tarkwa and in the light of matters arising, we are calling this 1st meeting (emergency meeting) dated 27th August 2022 at Headquarters at 10:00am prompt.
BACKGROUND
It would be recalled that one Kwame Bedu-Anor issued a writ against embattled Chairman Ebenezer K. Boahen, Augustus Agyemang Achina, John Brown and Registered Trustees of the Christian Divine Church (defendants) seeking a declaration that 1st and 2nd respondent terms of office as Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Christian Divine Church has expired, as at 28th of January, 2022.
The plaintiff also sought for an order directed at the 1st and 2nd defendants to vacate the position as Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Christian Divine Church and further order directed at the 1st and 2nd respondents to render account of all funds administered by them for the entire period of assuming the role as Chairman and Vice chairman of the church.
