Minister Appeals To Ga Mantse Claimants

From left: Constant Gladzah, Dr Daanaa and Nii Kpobi Tettey Tsuru

The Minister for Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs, Dr Henry Seidu Daanaa, has asked members of the Ga royal gates to exercise patience and allow the court to rule on who is the rightful Ga Mantse.

According to Dr Daanaa, his ministry found it prudent to appeal to those who enstooled Dr Kelvin Nii Tackie Abia Tackie as the new Ga Mantse on August 2, 2015 to slow down and allow the court process to work.

The installation of a new chief as the new Ga Mantse last weekend has sparked controversy within the Ga State but Dr Daanaa, speaking to the press on Thursday, stated that under the Chieftaincy Act 759, people who are dissatisfied with the entry of the name of any person as a chief in the National Register of Chiefs have the right to challenge such entry before a court of law.

As it stands now, only one name – Nii Adama Latse- is gazetted in the National Register of Chiefs by the National House of Chiefs as Ga Mantse. His position as Chief is being contested in court by a section of Gas who believe that he is not the rightful chief.

“The ministry is therefore appealing to those who enstooled a new Ga Mantse on Sunday, August 2, to slow down so that the court process will work accordingly, considering the fact that the issue of the induction of Nii Adama Latse, whose name for the time being is in the register, is presently before court,” Dr Daanaa said.

He added that though Nii Adama Latse had been sent to court about his position as Ga Mantse, he had the obligation to perform statutory functions as Ga Mantse until the court ruled otherwise.

“In other words, as long as a person’s name remains in the National Register of Chiefs for the time being, he is qualified to perform statutory functions,” he explained.

It would be recalled that in the year 2000 the National House of Chiefs’ research project on the Codification of Lines of Succession to Stool/Skins in Ghana began research into Ga chieftaincy history with the aim to codifying the lines of succession to the Ga Mantse Stool.

“The ministry is again by this medium appealing to all those who matter in the Ga royal estate to exercise patience in the spirit of wisdom of chieftaincy so that it will be possible for the ministry and National House of Chiefs to pursue the Ga chieftaincy research into succession to its logical conclusion,” he added.

The event was attended by Nii Kpobi Tettey Tsuru III, La Mantse and Vice President of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs, as well as some members of the Ga Traditional Council.