Former Council of State Member and NDC bigwig, Abraham Kwaku Adusei and others, have been cited for Contempt at the Supreme Court, the New Crusading GUIDE has learnt.
An affidavit deposed to by Elder Peter Kwabena Adjei of Akim Osiem in the Eastern Region contended that Messrs Opanyin Abraham Kwaku Adusei, Jacob Asirifi Senior, Enoch Ofori, and Daniel Mensah, being the respondents in an ongoing case in court, have conducted themselves contemptuously by taking steps to overreach the court.
The four are accused of changing the signages, symbols and name of Saviour Church from its properties to allegedly outsmart the enforcement of orders of the court “with intent to misappropriate the said properties and render the orders of this court nugatory.”
Videos and pictures in the possession of this paper revealed the said changes where ‘The’ has been prefixed to Saviour Church for reasons that still remain a puzzle to be solved.
A date is however yet to be set for the hearing which is causing discomfort for the applicant who suspect may be too late to halt their actions by the time the case is called.
Recall that the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned an earlier ruling that confirmed Opanyin Abraham Kwaku Adusei as the leader of the Saviour Church at Osiem in the Eastern Region.
This was in a four-three majority decision by a seven-member panel of the apex court.
It followed an appeal filed by the plaintiffs, Mr Asante Asirifi Dadeako and two others, who sought to restrain Opanyin Abraham from using the name of the church to do spiritual and religious activities.
The Apex Court in November 2021, in a three-two majority decision by a five-member panel, confirmed the former Council of State member under the erstwhile Mahama administration as the leader of the church.
The ruling followed 24 years of litigation after the death of Isaac Asirifi Asante when some members initiated legal action to restrain Opanyin Adusei as the General Superintendent and from using the name of the church to do spiritual and religious activities.
The plaintiffs alleged the church was incorporated in 2007 as a limited liability company, saying they alone had the legal right to operate with the church’s name.
They added Opanyin Adusei had exceeded his legal mandate and had been using the name of the church wrongly.
In view of this, the panel, presided over by His Lordship, Justice Dotse, ruled that Opanyin Abraham had no right to any branch or property of Saviour Church, hence cannot take custody of its own branches.
The court ordered that the application for review having succeeded the net effect is that the concurrent judgements of the High Court and Court of Appeal which upheld the applicant’s claims in the name of Saviour Church of Ghana and dismissed the respondent’s counterclaim are hereby restored.
The judgement of the ordinary bench of this court dated 24th November 2021 and the consequential orders emanating therefrom are hereby set aside.
The applicants being a legal entity, duly incorporated under the laws of the Republic of Ghana is entitled to operate in accordance with its regulations or constitution and shall, in consequence, be entitled to acquire, keep or recover any properties belonging to them in the possession of the respondents or any other person.
Other members of the panel included Justice Gabriel Pwamang, Justice Avril Lovelace-Johnson, Justice Clemence Jackson Honyenuga and Justice Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu.
The rest are Justice Prof. Henrietta Mensah-Bonsu and Justice Yonny Kulendi.
