PROPHETESS THANE II vs. PROPHET GEORGE [1977]DLCA1390

Date	1977-01-31
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1977]DLCA1390

APALOO JA

LASSEY JA

SOWAH J.A.

I. AMISSAH-AIDOO (CHARLES BIRIKORANG WITH HIM) FOR THE APPELLANT.

ASIAMAH FOR THE RESPONDENT.

[1977]DLCA1390
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >PROPHETESS THANE II <o:p></o:p>vs. <o:p></o:p>PROPHET GEORGE <o:p></o:p>[COURT OF APPEAL, ACCRA]<o:p></o:p>[1977]1 GLR 467<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

DATE:
31 JANUARY
1977<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

I. AMISSAH-AIDOO (CHARLES BIRIKORANG WITH HIM) FOR
THE APPELLANT.<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:
<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

APALOO, LASSEY AND SOWAH JJ.A.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF APALOO J.A.<o:p></o:p>Sometime
in 1914, a man called William Wady Harris arrived in this country from the
Republic of Liberia. He was an evangelist and propagated the faith to many
inhabitants in the Western Region especially in the Nzima Traditional Area. His
mission was successful and he won over to Christianity a lot of persons who had
hitherto been unbelievers. One of such persons was a fetish priestess called
Grace Thane. She was so thoroughly converted to the faith that she and the
evangelist, Harris, united in marriage and one assumes both lived together in
holy matrimony. Although Harris carried on a successful evangelising mission,
he did not found a church. This was to be done after his departure by his wife.
Harris left this country around 1915 and died some time after returning home to
Liberia.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>But while
Harris was here, he ordained Grace Thane, his wife, a prophetess. She carried
on her husband’s work and in time, herself made many converts. In 1929, she
founded a church and, presumably in memory of her husband, christened it “Wady
Harris Twelve Apostles Church.” That church grew with time and claimed many
adherents. In addition to prayers, the church also engaged in spiritual
healings and seemed to have acquired some reputation for its success in this
field. Healing is normally carried on in a place which, in her church’s
terminology, is called the “Garden.” The church had its headquarters in a small
town called Ankobra.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Some time
in 1930, there walked into Prophetess Thane’s garden, the appellant, his wife
and daughter. He was stricken with impotence after a “sex bout” with a married
woman and had come to be healed. He was received with open arms. The prophetess
prayed for him, treated him with holy water and after some time, he was
pronounced cured. The success of the spiritual healing was proved by the fact
that before he left the prophetess’s garden, his wife was eight months gone
with a child. When the child, a baby girl, was born shortly afterwards, he
showed his gratitude to the prophetess by naming it after her. He named the
little girl Nana Thane Bebebe-meaning Nana Thane the good. As was only to be
expected, the appellant then enrolled as a member of the church and thereafter
took part in its activities.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
appellant’s faith in the church grew and he thereafter registered to be trained
as a prophet. Having successfully gone through a course of instruction, he
qualified to be ordained and was ordained a prophet of the church in 1934. As
insignia of his office, Prophetess Grace Thane who ordained him, handed to him,
a wooden cross, a calabash with beads, an enamel cup, a holy Bible and a bottle
of holy water. These consecrated articles were successfully claimed against him
in the action which culminated in this appeal. After his ordination, the
appellant was stationed at Kromantse and was given charge of the church members
there.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>During
the lifetime of Prophetess Thane, the appellant co-operated with her and paid
periodic visits to her garden at Ankobra. He was also a dutiful prophet. The
only lapse that was attributed to him was that without authority from
Prophetess Thane, he ordained one Daniel Atta as a prophet. The former made an
issue of this and this resulted in some sort of arbitration in which the
appellant was found to be at fault. He pacified the prophetess and the evidence
shows that both thereafter remained on cordial terms. Prophetess Thane died on
15 August 1958. After her funeral rites, the respondent, her granddaughter, was
installed her spiritual successor under the name Prophetess Thane II. The
latter in fact lived and worked with her grandmother, and was thoroughly
conversant with the church rituals. Her installation met with the approval of
the church congregation.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
evidence shows that the appellant did not take kindly to the respondent’s
succession to </main>