Court dismisses King Tackie Adama Latse review application
The Kumasi High Court yesterday dismissed an application for an order of mandamus and a judicial review brought against the National House of Chiefs by Dr Nii Tetteh Kwei II, that contested the insertion of King Tackie Adama Latse II as the Ga Mantse in its register.
Advertisement
The court held that the act of insertion by the National House of Chiefs was an administrative act and not a judicial one.
It further ruled that the name of King Adama Latse be maintained in the register as the Ga Mantse until the case pending before the Greater Accra Regional House was disposed of.
Attached to the suit was King Tackie Adama Latse as an interested party.
Background
Dr Nii Tettey Kwei filed an application for an order of mandamus to compel the National House of Chiefs to delete from its register the name of King Tackie Adama Latse as the Ga Mantse.
In June 2006, the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs began to adjudicate the chieftaincy dispute involving the rightful successor to the late Ga Mantse, Nii Amugi II.
The process, however, stifled following the demise of the enstooled chief, Dr Joe Blankson, under the stool name of Nii Tackie Tawiah II.
It was the case of the applicant that while Nii Tackie Tawiah was still reigning, Mr George Tackie Abia, styling himself as Nii Tackie Adama Latse, forcibly broke into the Ga Stool room and declared himself as the Ga Mantse.
Other Trending Stories
According to him, Nii Adama Latse, aided by politicians and other well-placed and influential persons, managed to be gazetted even though at the time of his alleged gazetting, there were legal proceedings over the Ga paramountcy and the purported nomination and enstoolment of the Ga Mantse pending before the Judicial Committee of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs.
Ruling
In its ruling, the court, presided over by Mr Justice Charles Adjei Wilson, held that the National House of Chiefs did not err in gazetting the name of the interested party in its register as the Ga Mantse, since its function was purely administrative.
It further held that at the time the house did that, “there was no legal impediment in approving the application by Adama Latse II” to have his name included in the National House of Chiefs’ register.
“Now at the time the registrar entered the name of the interested party onto the register, no court of competent jurisdiction had declared the interested party ineligible to occupy the Ga-stool; the registrar of the House of Chiefs is only obliged to recognise orders issued from a court of competent jurisdiction,” the court contended.
According to the court, the fact that a person alleged facts which if established would entitle a person to a remedy “does not amount in law to a legal impediment to the decision of a statutory functionary.”
“It is not my function to interfere with the administrative duties of the National House of Chiefs. The petitioners’ argument based upon particular unfairness is unpersuasive. This court is not in a position to make broad judgements about the balance of unfairness in relation to the validation of the interested party’s registration in the National House of Chiefs,” the court declared.
Costs of GH¢40,000 were awarded against the applicant.