160 new Churches in six months!

The Registrar General’s Department is overwhelmed by request for the registration of new churches. Mr K.A. Ohene Obeng, Chief State Attorney at the Department who revealed this to “The Spectator” said the situation has brought about the mushrooming of churches in the country as well as the character of some pastors and the commercial orientation of most religious bodies.

He said between January and June, this year, the Department registered 160 new churches; the breakdown being 20 in January 33 in February 28 in March and 19 in April. It also registered 27 and 33 new churches in May and June respectively.

Mr Ohene Obeng further revealed that the Department has no clear or up-to-date records on churches and religious bodies and has also not been able to categorise churches divisions: charismatic, Pentecostal, orthodox, Muslim, Ahmadiyya, etc.

The Chief State Attorney said the department has no updated records of religious bodies at the regional level however there are scanty record on charismatic, spiritual and Pentecost churches registered which this year. The orthodox churches like the Catholic, Methodist and Presbyterian were registered several years ago.

He disclosed that until 1992, the department was required by law to keep an updated record. However, the 1992 constitution, he said, “liberated” churches as they were no more required to register with the Registrar-General’s Department.

“But strangely enough, new churches approached us on their own to be registered because they needed some form of recognition, hence we registered them together with some Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s)” said Mr. Ohene Obeng.

As to whether only Reverend Ministers have the mandate to register new churches, he said since the current law does not specify that, all manner of people have formed churches and called for law and order.

According to him, some of the new churches, have just one person as proprietor and that person is not accountable to anyone in the church, thus often leads to embezzlement of funds and the one -man show syndrome in the church.

Mr Ohene Obeng, however, said the situation is not like that in the Catholic, Presbyterian and Methodist Churches because the church leaders are always answerable to the church hierarchy and the session.

Mr Obeng disclosed that, even though he could not immediately give any accurate figures for registration of churches up to 1992, at least a few new churches are registered in every month since 1993.