GAR House of Chiefs begins hearing six-year-old petition on Ga Mantse dispute

A long-standing chieftaincy dispute in Ghana has entered a new phase as the Judicial Committee of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs begins hearing a petition filed over six years ago. The petition, submitted by Nii Adama Latse II, seeks a declaration affirming his position as the legitimate and lawfully installed Ga Mantse.

Filed on May 29, 2019, the case has experienced multiple adjournments, partly due to the adjudication of other related aspects of the dispute in different legal forums. The petitioner is requesting that Dr. Kelvin Tackie, the first respondent, vacate the Ga Stool House and the Ga Mantse Palace. Additionally, Nii Adama Latse II seeks the transfer of the Ga Traditional Council's administration to him and any other relief the committee deems appropriate.

The committee, chaired by Ada Mantse, Nene Abraham Kabu Akuaku III, is proceeding after case management was completed on May 14, 2026. The initial hearing for the cross-examination of the petitioner's first witness took place on June 11, 2026. However, subsequent proceedings were delayed when counsel for the respondents filed a motion to introduce additional witnesses, a move the petitioner's lawyer argued was intended solely to prolong the legal battle.

Nii Adama Latse II maintains he was legally and customarily installed as Paramount Chief of the Ga Traditional Area on June 11, 2011. He asserts that as of 2019, he was the gazetted Ga Mantse, with his name entered in the National Register of Chiefs in April 2014. He contends that Dr. Kelvin Tackie is one of three claimants to the stool but insists that traditional and statutory bodies recognize him as the rightful occupant. The petitioner further alleges that respondents have unlawfully usurped his authority by refusing to relinquish control of the Ga Traditional Council and occupying the Ga Stool House without legal basis.