Apostle Dr Augustine Annor Yeboah, Acting Chairman of the Christ Apostolic Church International has been interdicted from the church with immediate effect.

The Reverend Michael Nimo, Acting General Secretary of CACI, who announced this at press briefing in Accra on Monday, said the interdiction was a result of gross misconduct amounting to abuse of his office as Acting Chairman and Reverend Minister.

The decision taken by the Executive Council, which is also the ruling body of the church, said, "the matter is hereby referred to the Ministerial Board in Accordance with Article 55(D) of the Church's Constitution".

Reverend Nimo said: "He shall not perform any such duties either as Acting Chairman or Reverend Minister in the CACI until the final determination of the case against him."

The Executive Council urged all members of the church, the clergy and the general public to respect law and order and refrain from all acts that might tarnish the good name of the church.

Rev Nimo said over the years: "Rev. Annor Yeboah had determined to ruin this church and has amply demonstrated this by behaving not as a man of God, but as a man of the world seeking power in the cloak of a Minister and an ambitious nation wrecker."

He denied that the matter at stake was about buildings for the Executive Members as stated by Apostle Annor Yeboah at his earlier news conference. He said in 1995 the General Council of the church decided to build houses for members of the Executive for their contribution towards the growth of the church.

To this effect Rev Annor Yeboah and the former Chairman of the Church the Reverend Samuel Kofi Asare were awarded with 150 million cedis each in 1997. He said Rev Annor Yeboah at the time said that his branch church had already built a house for him and, therefore, used his money to buy a Toyota Land Cruiser and a plot of land at Kotobabi.

Rev Nimo said that the anger and hatred being nursed by Apostle Annor Yeboah was a refusal by the Executive Council to buy back the same Land Cruiser, which is being maintained and fuelled by the church at an appreciated cost of 150 million cedis.

He said: "We have occupied ourselves with the building of our church, not buildings for ourselves. If receiving the building was wrong, he should return his 150 million cedis to the church."

He noted: "The matter at stake is not about buildings but persistent gross misconduct and unruly behaviour put up by Rev Annor Yeboah." Rev Nimo said at the last Emergency meeting of the church in February 2002 upon which Mr Kwamena Bartels, Minister for Private Sector Development intervened, Rev Annor Yeboah himself volunteered to step down at the next Council Meeting to avoid impeachment for gross misconduct.

"He pleaded with the Council that he is not press friendly and that any punishment meted out to him will collaborate the media allegations against him." Rev Nimo said, however, the subsequent behaviour of the Apostle Annor Yeboah indicated that he was "unrepentant and recalcitrant".

"He refused to allow the reconciliation and unity service to be conducted at his church at Osu." Rev Nimo said Rev Annor Yeboah has persistently lambasted his colleagues, Executive Members anytime he mounted the pulpit even after he had been pardoned with the intervention of the Minister.

He mentioned that at one time Mrs Cecilia Annor Yeboah assaulted the Public Relations Director of the church and specifically landed four blows on him at the Mission House, where he had gone to prepare Apostle Annor Yeboah for an interview.

He said in this case Apostle Annor Yeboah pleaded that the matter should be settled out of court. The Acting General Secretary said with only a few days to the General Council meeting, Apostle Annor Yeboah was conspiring to incite innocent members of the church to cause unrest by misinterpreting the Constitution.

He said Apostle Annor Yeboah failed to attend meetings on 4 and 7 March to discuss plots of unrest and other matters in the church even though he was given a reminder. "He rather preferred to cut-walk around the meeting corridors apparently bluffing while there are serious issues on the table begging for attention."

Rev Nimo said the Executive Council threw out Rev Annor Yeboahs bid to occupy both the Chairmanship and the General Secretaryship of the church last two weeks at an Executive meeting.

Invoking Article 162 of the Constitution, which gives the Executive Council the final powers to interpret the Constitution, he was voted out with a seven to one vote. Meanwhile when the GNA contacted Rev Annor Yeboah on phone he rejected the interdiction saying: "I reject it, they have no right to do that." The General Council Meeting of the Church would, however, go ahead as scheduled on 17 to 22 March.