“When it happened in London, the Charities Commission took over the running of the church and made sure that every pound that had been paid in breach of the Law was refunded,”

A renowned legal practitioner, Ace Ankomah has cautioned churches against buying cars and giving to the men of God as gifts.

Such practices according to him, are against the law.

Mr. Ankomah also noted that per the trust law, properties of churches belong to the church and not the members.

“Look, we don’t need any other regulation. There is sufficient law in Ghana which is not targeted at churches per se but applies to churches and we regulate a lot of these things. Churches may be one of two things; an incorporated trust or guarantee company.”

“Trust comes from trust law. It is simply this, the owner of the property, has given the property to you to hold in the trust of that person. So if you are a part of a church, you are in a trust situation. The property of the church belongs to the church and not yours especially if you have incorporated it as a trust,” he noted

Speaking on Newsfile on JoyNews last Saturday, Mr. Ankomah further noted that per the law companies(churches) that are incorporated as guarantees have some key distinctions that include; No profit-making, no dividend or distribution of return or assets thus a church cannot buy a car and dash it to the man of God.

“…If you have incorporated it as a guarantee company, there are four key ingredients; No shares, no profit-making, no dividend or distribution of return of assets so the church cannot buy a car and dash it to the man of God,” he indicated.

In conclusion, citing a case in London, Mr Ankomah intimated that such a practice by churches amount to a distribution of assets to members thus ought to be refunded.

“When it happened in London, the Charities Commission took over the running of the church and made sure that every pound that had been paid in breach of the Law was refunded,” he ended.