Lawyers for Ms Doris Sobreh, a former Administrator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), Community Four, Tema, have maintained that the content of a story published by the Daily Graphic on May 19, 2010 were at all times denied by both their client and the Presbyterian Church.
They asserted that Ms Sobreh had suffered tremendously due to the original publication made against her which was on the Internet.It tarnished her reputation and eventually caused her her job at the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA).
Wrong termination
Her appointment with the PCG Trinity Congregation, Community Four, Tema was terminated without any severance.
The lawyers said the Session of the congregation had never invited their client to listen to her side of the story all these years.
“Efforts to get the comment of the District Minister and Session of the PCG Trinity Congregation by their client, family members and other leading members of the congregation to settle the matter amicably proved futile,” it said.
The letter from the lawyers said Ms Sobreh had been without a job for the past six years due to the publication.
Psychological trauma
Ms Sobreh is said to have suffered severe psychological trauma coupled with emotional pain and rejection even in the church due to the said publication.
Recently, according to her lawyers, her candidature as a Presbyter-nominee of the PCG Grace Congregation, Community 11, Tema, where she fellowshipped was cancelled by the Rev. Minister in charge of the congregation.
Meanwhile, the seven-member committee that sat on the case concluded that the allegation of a sex scandal between the Tema Community Four District Minister, Rev. E. Kissiedu-Ayi, and Ms Sobreh was unfounded.
Also, the report said the committee did not also find any credible incident to connect any Presbyter of the church to any sexual relationship with her and that there was no scuffle between her and any lady at the frontage of the church as alleged.
“A simple administrative issue between the church Administrator and the Director of Church Life and Nurture on April 4, 2010 was fuelled by gossip which degenerated into this embarrassing situation” and that “we did not find as a fact that Ms Sobreh had engaged in ‘brawls’ with other women in the church, including wives of presbyters as the publication tried to portray,” the report said.
Falsehood
According to the letter from her lawyers, the committee said contrary to the publication of inflation of prices of materials procured for church projects, it found out that Ms Sobreh was not a member of the Project Implementation Committee of the church as such was at no time involved in the procurement of materials.
The committee also stated in its report that the administrator was responsible for general procurement and storekeeping.
However, the general procurement of goods and stationery was done in consultation with the director of administration, Human Resource and management, and with the approval of the district minister.
The report stated categorically that there was no evidence of over-invoicing on the part of the administrator, therefore, the allegation of financial malfeasance by way of inflating the prices of items procured for the church was untrue and unfounded.
The lawyers said the lady administrator was at all times an implementer of decisions from the Session and not a decision maker. They indicated that this position was guttered from their client’s letter of appointment and job description, signed by the district minister on October 26, 2007.
Apology and retraction
Following the clearing of the air by the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and the seven-member committee, the Daily Graphic has decided to apologise to Ms Sobreh.
We apologise unreservedly to Ms Sobreh for any embarrassment and damage caused to her reputation and accordingly retract the story.
