New Apostolic Church Zambia has gone to the High Court where it has filed a lawsuit against breakway church calling itself, True Apostolic Church.
The church has sued True Apostolic Church for trespassing on its premises, libel, and illegally using its emblems.
The aggrieved church further seeks a declaration that all church buildings it built across the country using its funds and contributions from its members belong to it and not True Apostolic Church.
New Apostolic Church Zambia is also seeking compensation or an anquiry relating to damages for infringement of copyright and for conversion.
The church also seeks an order that the defendant provides an account in respect of such income or payment received by the defendant to the plaintiff’s use from the sale of materials, goods or products carrying or containing the plaintiff’s logo.
The plaintiff states that is and was at all material times a church of Christ duly Registered and incorporated in Zambia.
New Apostolic Church Zambia submits that it was the legal and lawful owner and occupier in possession of various pieces of land and churches in Zambia.
The plaintiff submits that it will state at trial that in its over 100 years of existence in Zambia, it has built numerous churches and structures across the country, some on state land and for which certificates of title have been issued by the State.
“The plaintiff shall aver at trial that following the break-away from the plaintiff and the subsequent registration of the defendant by the Registrar of Societies, the defendant and its members engaged in activities aimed at disturbing, interfering and disrupting the smooth operations of the plaintiff, ” the document reads.
New Apostolic Church Zambia submits hat the breakway church took over its church buildings built on traditional land and threatened church members who had remained in the main church.
“The defendant has been infuriating and demeaning the leadership of the plaintiff and interfering with the worship activities of the plaintiff including exploiting without the plaintiffs products, goods, copyrighted material, logo, emblem and other church symbols without permission, ” the document reads.
The True Apostolic Church has also threatened to take over, and in some cases, actually managed to take over and occupied the plaintiff’s church buildings.
“For instance, the defendant managed to lock up Besa Congregation in Chipata which the defendant is currently using for its own church activities and also successfully locked up, Chizongwe congregation, Hilltop congregation and Roadside Congregation in Chipata and these remain locked up on the date of issuing this process,” the statement of claim reads.
The plaintiff also submits that the defendant has also been issuing death threats.
“Death threats were issued by Priest Musonda of the defendant church currently working as a Police Chaplain at Lusaka Division of the Zambia Police against a named member of the plaintiff who shall testify at trial”.
The plaintiff also submits that the defendant wants to misled the public that it supports homosexuality by quoting a document issued by a pressure group within New Apostolic Church.
“The belief apparently held by the defendant that the plaintiff supports homosexuality has erroneously been drawn from a document titled Rainbow NAC issued by a private initiative or pressure group within the New Apostolic Church in the United States of America where homosexuality is recognized as a human right”.
