Berekusu Chiefs fight Presby Church

The chiefs and people of Berekusu in the Eastern Region have expressed disappointment in the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) for the manner in which some of the church’s leaders are ‘misrepresenting’ facts over a disputed parcel of land.

The church currently has a big worship centre and other facilities at Abokobi in the Ga East District of the Greater Accra Region, but the ownerships of some of the parcels of land being used by the church for its projects are being disputed by the chiefs and people of Berekusu, led by Nana Oteng Korankye II, who is also the Twafohene of Akwapim Traditional Area.

The chiefs say they are particularly worried that the caretaker of the Abokobi branch of the church, Samuel Adjetey Mohenu, has purportedly made himself a chief of Abokobi and allegedly made misrepresentations in press statements in spite of the fact that the matter is currently at the Court of Appeal.

At a heavily-attended news conference at the Press Centre in Accra yesterday, Nana Oteng Korankye II said a high court judgement was entered in favour of Berekusu regarding the disputed lands and an appeal was initiated by the Registered Trustees of the church, which was pending.

“Today, the kind of representations made by the successors of the Basel Mission Society, the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, through its press releases and declarations, have made us alien to the very church we gladly welcomed and gave a place to stay and develop so that the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ could be preached to the very inhabitants of the land,” the chief noted.

He said that The Basel Mission from Germany came to Berekusu in 1854 and according to him, Nana Opantu Kwadwo, the then chief, head and lawful representative of the Aduana Abrade Family of Berekusu, handed over “certain portions of the Berekusu lands” to the mission at what he called “Obo-kro-bi” for the establishment of the church and other activities adding, “the place is what is now called Abokobi, which is the capital of the Ga East District.”

According to Nana Korankye II, he personally approached the Modreator of the church Rev. Prof Emmanuel Martey, to intervene in the dispute for amicable solution but the Trustees of the church, through the caretaker ‘chief’ who were sued, had continuously made public statements that did not support the facts.

“It is our heartfelt prayer that, in order to ensure unity and social cohesion as well as peaceful coexistence among members in the community, the Registered Trustees of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana should refrain from adopting the practice of usurping and pre-empting the decision of the Court of Appeal by its press releases and conferences deliberately packed to win public sympathy by means of dodging the eyes of equity, fairness and good conscience,” Nana Korankye II appealed.