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Against Ghanaian Clergy
Bishop David Oyedepo, the presiding Bishop of the Living Faith Church Worldwide otherwise known as Winners Chapel has emerged victorious in a long drawn legal battle that lasted for 19 years against Ghanaian born clergy, Bishop George Adjeman. The Supreme Court of Ghana in its judgement ordered that Adjeman should vacate the premises of Winners Chapel, Ghana used by him for the last 19 years. The Court also varied the decision that Adjeman render an account of his stewardship to Winners Chapel International from January 16th 2004 till date and pay any monies due the church with interest at the prevailing commercial bank interest rate by reducing the rate to be paid among other decisions. However, it set aside an order by the Court of Appeal that restrained Adjeman and others from using the name Winners Chapel for their breakaway group. Trouble started when Adjeman thought it wise to rebel against his former boss. A Ghanaian chartered accountant and protege of Oyedepo, he was considered a faithful servant and even held sway in those days whenever Oyedepo was on his mission trips. Adjeman was the only non-Nigerian consecrated Bishop in the history of the Living Faith Church. In recognition of his faithfulness as well as a new indigenization policy of the Living Faith Church, he was transferred to Ghana in 1996, later recalled and then sent in 2002 to head the network of 14 churches spread across Ghana. Unknown to Oyedepo, Adjeman re-registered the church in his own name. When government authorities in Ghana called for Churches to be registered as companies, Adjeman went ahead to re-register the church in his own name and excluded the names of all the Nigerian trustees without informing the Nigerian church of the new regulatory development nor asking for their consent. In 2004 the headquarter church in Nigeria decided to transfer him to Ibadan Diocese when he refused to continue remitting the $60,000.00 monthly church income that was initially remitted to the Nigerian headquarter. For those who may not understand, remitting of money from all branches of the world to headquarter churches usually to fund various programs of the church was practiced by Winners Chapel at the time. The Catholic Church, Redeemed Christian Church of God and many other churches still practice this which is not in anyway a bad practice. After the monies have been remitted, certain percentages would be returned to the branches. Adjeman notified church members that he was being transferred because of his refusal to remit money to Nigeria. Some members cheered him on and encouraged him to disregard the transfer and this gave him the courage to stage a hostile takeover of the Ghanaian branches of Winners Chapel thereafter and declared independence. And thus began the drama. While some Ghanaians felt it was wrong for a church in Ghana to remit money to a church in Nigeria, others felt Adjeman was disloyal to his former boss in Nigeria and should leave the church using the right way and not taking over any of the church’s properties, members or name. The Ghanaian Pentecostal Fellowship (GPF) tried to intervene. It ordered Adjeman to vacate the Winners Chapel premises since the church was built with seed funding from Nigeria.
While attempts were being made to resolve the crisis of ownership, Winners Chapel International quickly moved to establish another place of worship to stop the confusion. They were now referred to in Ghana as the Oyedepo original body (WCI Ghana) and the Adjeman’s faction referred to as Winners Chapel Ghana (WCG or Winners’ Ghana). Thus began a long legal battle that would last the next 19 years in the Ghanaian judicial system. But as the crisis metamorphosed, the GPF equally admonished Oyedepo to settle Adjeman so he could go and start his own ministry. Oyedepo initially disagreed, querying if that wouldn’t be tantamount to a bribe. Adjeman made a demand of $50,000 as severance, along with the church mission house and a car. Oyedepo vehemently opposed this but the GPF however encouraged him to see it as a way of setting up a son. Oyedepo, after due consultation with church elders, agreed to approve $100,000 but without a car or mission house. This didn’t go down well with Adjeman and he decided to help himself with the church. But seemingly feeling remorseful after six years, Adjeman visited Oyedepo in 2010 against the wishes of his lawyers. There, Oyedepo reportedly agreed to let Adjeman have all the properties but should drop the ‘Winners’ Chapel’ tag from his church name which was the root of the contention. Adjeman agreed to drop the name and even the church properties but surprisingly changed his mind as he got back to Ghana especially because his congregation were unhappy that he took such a decision without their knowledge thereby making them look like usurpers. Today, despite having to start all over again after the unfortunate split, Winners Chapel International currently has a network of over 250 churches in Ghana.
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