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The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has confirmed that Lighthouse Chapel Incorporated Ghana (LCI Ghana) has paid and is not required to pay the SSNIT dues of five of the six former pastors and bishops.
SSNIT also confirmed that LCI paid 14 years of SSNIT and is only in default of one month regarding the sixth pastor, Oko Mensah.
The Trust said Bishop Larry Odonkor and Pastors Seth Duncan, Edem Amankwah and Faith Makafui Fiakojo were not employed by the organization during the time they are claiming non-payment of contributions, and that the The church is therefore not obligated to make these payments.
In the case of Bishop Oko Mensah, the Trust asked the church to pay for May 2019, which is the only time the organization has defaulted on its payments.
In addition, LCI Ghana will also be required to pay penalties accrued due to default.
LCI indicates that the fault was the result of an administrative error. He said the month in question was Bishop Oko Mensah’s first month in a new branch of the church and he was then transferred to a new payroll.
The six people, who identify themselves as former LCI Ghana employees, claim that the church willfully refused to pay their dues for a total of 58 years (running concurrently) while working there.
In a competing court case, the former pastors and their legal representative claimed that no SSNIT contribution had been made in the past 16 years for any of the formerly employed pastors.
SSNIT, however, confirmed that for Bishops Larry Odonkor and Oko Mensah, as well as Pastor Edward Laryea, there had been several years of uninterrupted social security contributions made by the church.
Bishop Larry claimed the church owed him 15 years of unpaid SSNIT contributions; Reverend Edward Laryea was three years old, while Pastors Seth Duncan, Edem Amankwah and Faith Makafui Fiakojo were nine, 11 and six, respectively.
Bishop Oko Mensah claimed more than 14 years of unpaid contributions to SSNIT. It has been 58 years of alleged non-payment of SSNIT contributions.
LCI said it had not been informed that pastors were seeking clarification on their contributions to SSNIT, as this information is available to all church employees.
After the pastors sued the church, LCI wrote to SSNIT and requested that any deficiencies in the payment of dues be clarified for each of the former pastors.
The Social Security office has now responded to the church and confirmed that Lighthouse Church is not responsible for any payments except for the one month delay for Oko Mensah.
Although legal proceedings are ongoing, SSNIT has concluded its investigation, which is separate from the litigation.
In a response that was submitted to the Trust, the church said only three of the pastors have ever been employed by the church. And that for all the years they have been employed, their contributions have been duly paid.
The church maintains that the other three served as volunteers during the period, as did thousands of other lay pastors in the denomination.
These three pastors were not formally employed by the church. However, the church also argued that both parties consented to this fact in various written agreements.
Despite pastors’ claims to the contrary, SSNIT has confirmed that the church’s statement is valid in all cases except the May 2019 payment for Bishop Oko Mensah.
The bishop worked for the church in various capacities from 2003 to 2019, informing his decision to demand 14 years of unpaid SSNIT contributions.
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