R.E.A. SAKA (PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT) vs. VICTOR OKO ABBEY & 14 ORS. (DEFENDANTS/RESPONDENTS) [2006]DLCA7472

R.E.A. SAKA (PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT) vs. VICTOR OKO ABBEY & 14 ORS. (DEFENDANTS/RES... [2006]DLCA7472

Date	2006-03-03
Suit No.	CIVIL APPEAL NO.: H1/150/2005.
Citation No.	[2006]DLCA7472

MRS. AKOTO BAMFO J.A. [PRESIDING]

ASARE KORANG J.A.

RICHARD ASAMOAH J.

MR. FAROUCK SEIDU FOR THE PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT.

NENE AMEGATCHER [WITH HIM MR. SAM OKUDZETO] FOR THE DEFENDANTS/RESPONDENTS.

[2006]DLCA7472
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >R.E.A. SAKA<o:p></o:p>(PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT)<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>VICTOR OKO ABBEY &amp; 14 ORS.<o:p></o:p>(DEFENDANTS/RESPONDENTS)<o:p></o:p>[COURT OF APPEAL, ACCRA]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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APPEAL NO.: H1/150/2005.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; DATE: 3RD MARCH, 2006<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:<o:p></o:p>MR.
FAROUCK SEIDU FOR THE PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT.<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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NENE AMEGATCHER [WITH HIM MR. SAM
OKUDZETO] FOR THE DEFENDANTS/RESPONDENTS.<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:<o:p></o:p>MRS.
AKOTO BAMFO J.A. [PRESIDING], ASARE KORANG J.A., RICHARD ASAMOAH J.<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border-top:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
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</div>ASARE
KORANG, J.A. <o:p></o:p>The plaintiff/appellant [hereinafter called
the appellant] sued the defendants/ respondents [the respondents for short
hereinafter] in the Circuit Court for the following reliefs:—<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;"[a] Declaration that the nomination and
election of the 6th to 15th Defendants on the 11th of November, 2001 to serve
on the Osu Presbyterian Church Session from the year 2002 is null and void and
of no effect.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;[b] An order that the audit reports dated 22nd
November, 1997 and 12th May, 1998, and that of the Head Office dated 11th
April, 2001 be presented to the congregation at the next local conference as
stipulated by the constitution of the church. <o:p></o:p>[c] An order that the
recommendations contained in the said audit reports together with the Head
Office audit report be implemented.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;[d] Declaration that the 6th to 15th
Defendants are not fit/qualified to serve on the Session. <o:p></o:p>[e] An order that the 4th
Defendant be made to see to it that the Plaintiff's earlier legal expenses
amounting to ¢913,300.00 together with interest at the prevailing bank rate as
agreed upon by the parties be paid to the Plaintiff by the Presbytery as was
promised by the 4th Defendant."<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;Sometime in 1996, it came to the notice of the
Reverend Minister in charge of the Osu Ebenezer Presbyterian Church [the
Church] that the accounts of the church were not being audited regularly. The
Local Session of the Church therefore appointed a 3-member team including the
plaintiff to carry out an audit of the accounts of the congregation.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;In the course of the audit, two members of the
team withdrew to take up other appointments in the church. Before the two
ceased to be members of the audit committee, two separate audits, it is
alleged, had been completed, one of them being the audit report covering the
period January 1988 to June 1997 on the Church Hall Building. <o:p></o:p>In
the absence of the other members of the team, the appellant alleges that he was
allowed to continue with the audit. The respondents say the contrary and insist
that the appellant constituted himself into a one-man crusader and continued
with the audit work without the authority and mandate of the Session. <o:p></o:p>The
appellant subsequently came up with what apparently were grave instances of
dissipation and embezzlement of church funds by some members of the Session and
when his report to the Session failed to evoke any response from the leadership
of the church of which the 6th to the 15th Respondents were members, the
appellant sued the members of the church and Session implicated in his report
at the Osu Community Tribunal.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;The 4th Respondent who was then the Head of
the Ga Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, intervened to make peace
and asked the appellant to withdraw the matter from court while he ensured a
thorough enquiry into the whole issue. The appellant agreed to an out of court
settlement on the condition that the 4th Respondent would ensure that the
appellant's legal expenses totaling ¢913.300.00 would be settled by the Ga
Presbytery.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;Thereafter a Committee known as the
"SPECIAL AUDIT IMPASSE CONIMITTEE' was established whose findings were
given to the immediate past session to implement but nothing came out of it.
Instead a Head Office Audit Team [being a team of auditors from the
headquarters of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana—PCG] was appointed to audit
the accounts of the Osu Congregation. The Head Office Audit team issued an
interim report.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;The appellant contended that since the 6th to
the 15th respondents who were members of the immediate past Session and had
been re-appointed failed to act on his findings and those of the Audit Impasse
Committee and the Head Office Audit Team, the 6th and the 15th respondents were
incompetent to be appointed to the present session as those respondents were
themselves guilty of embezzling church funds whilst the 1st Respondent as the
Pastor in charge of the Osu congregation was also guilty of omission to act
because he inherited the various audit reports and did nothing to implement the
recommendations in them. <o:p></o:p>After
he had comprehensiv</main>