Writ against ARS set aside

Tuesday, May 25, 2010 (Page 19)

THE Accra Fast Track High Court has dismissed an application filed by the General Secretary of the Apostles Revelation Society (ARS) which prayed the court to bar 10 apostles of the church from organising the 70th anniversary of the church.
Dickson Owusu Abrokwah and four others commenced the action on December 7, 2009, praying the court to, among others, declare that the activities of the defendants, the purported College of Apostles, were unconstitutional and unlawful.
But the defendants prayed the court to set aside the writ because the plaintiffs were not registered trustees, for which reason they lacked the legal capacity to institute the action in their names.
In its ruling, the court, presided over by Mr Justice K. A. Ofori-Atta, held that the plaintiffs were “busy bodies and inter-meddlers” who did not have the legal capacity to sue on behalf of the church.
It, accordingly, awarded GH¢3,000 costs against the plaintiffs in favour of the defendants.
Citing authorities to buttress its decision, the court said it did not see how the plaintiffs had been affected by the alleged unlawful conduct of the defendants which the plaintiffs had stated included disturbing the peace of the church, attempting to change its tenets and established orders, using its letter heads, appropriating its Urvan bus for their use, among other claims.
“All the above acts are alleged to be against the church and not the plaintiffs in their personal capacities,” the court held.
“In conclusion, I hold that having brought the action in their personal capacities, the plaintiffs are not clothed with the requisite standing in this suit. They were busy bodies and intermeddlers,” the trial judge ruled.
The court further stated that nowhere had plaintiffs stated that the College of Apostles was unconstitutional, illegal or unlawful.
“The fact that the body was not mentioned in the church’s constitution did not make it illegal or unconstitutional. They were not issues before me,” the trial judge pointed out and, accordingly, dismissed the suit.
The court held that plaintiffs, in paragraph one of their statement of claim, had described themselves as registered members of the church in good standing and had instituted the legal action in their personal capacities as members of ARS to challenge the unlawful activities of the defendants.
“The averments in paragraphs 8, 9 and 10 of the affidavit ..... make it clear that the plaintiffs do not represent anybody but themselves. In short, the plaintiffs did not or purport to issue a representative action,” it added.