The Supreme Court has quashed the order directed at the National House of Chiefs in Kumasi to restore Nii Tackie Adama Latse II onto the national register of chiefs as the Ga Mantse.

In a ruling Wednesday, July 23, 2025, a five-member panel of the apex court which had Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang as its president, was of the view that before making the order to restore Nii Latse II’s name onto the register, the Kumasi High Court judge, Justice Frederick Tetteh, did not give Nii Tackie Teiko a notice and hearing, thereby violating the rule of natural justice.

This comes after the apex court upheld a certiorari application filed by counsel for Nii Tackie Tsuru, Professor Peter A. Atupare.

The court said that the High Court did not afford Nii Tackie Tsuru his constitutional right to be heard in proceedings that directly affected his rights and interests as Ga Mantse.

Appeal

On June 12, 2025, the Court of Appeal ordered the National House of Chiefs to restore Nii Adama Latse onto the national register of chiefs as the Ga Mantse (the Paramount Chief of the Ga State) within 14 days.

That was after it upheld a High Court ruling, which first gave the order in November 2021.

In its unanimous decision, the three-member panel of the second-highest court of the land held that the National House of Chiefs removed Nii Adama Latse’s name from the register without any evidence that he had been validly destooled, a prerequisite for removing a chief’s name from the national register.

“The National House of Chiefs, Kumasi, removed the name of Nii Latse II from the national register without any evidence that he was dead, had been deposed, or had abdicated or that an adjudicatory body had ordered the removal of his name.

“The decision of National House of Chiefs, Kumasi was ultra vires, constituted an abuse of power and amounted to a wrong exercise of discretion, thereby constituting an error of law,” the three-member panel of the court ruled when it dismissed the National House of Chiefs, Kumasi’s appeal against the November 2021 High Court decision.

Read also: Nii Adama Latse II wins appeal: Court orders House of Chiefs to restore him to register - But Ga Mantse office says King Teiko Tsuru II remains Chief

Background

In April 2021, Nii Adama Latse II learnt that his name had been expunged from the National Register.

To ascertain his status, counsel for Nii Adama Latse applied for a search with the National House of Chiefs, Kumasi, which confirmed that, indeed, his name had been expunged.

He then instructed his lawyer to write a letter of objection, demanding the restoration of his name in the register by April 27, 2021, but the National House of Chiefs, Kumasi, refused.

Following this, Nii Adama Latse, whose name was originally part of the register after submitting his enstoolment form from the Ga Traditional Council, filed a motion in a form of a judicial review at the High Court in Kumasi, seeking an order directed at the National House of Chiefs, Kumasi to restore his name onto the register as the Ga Mantse.

This relief was granted by the High Court, but unsatisfied with the ruling, the National House of Chiefs, Kumasi, went to the Court of Appeal to challenge the High Court ruling, which ordered the restoration of Nii Adama Latse’s name in the register.

Their main argument was that the High Court was not the proper forum to seek a judicial review; hence, it was not clothed with the jurisdiction to hear the matter.

It is this appeal that has been dismissed by the Court of Appeal, affirming the High Court’s order for Nii Adama Latse’s name to be restored.

Statement

By a press statement issued on June 13, 2025, the Office of King Tackie Teiko Tsuru refuted claims that the ruling confers chieftaincy le­gitimacy on Nii Adama Latse.

It emphasised that the judi­ciary did not have jurisdiction to determine matters affecting chieftaincy titles, which were the exclusive purview of the Judicial Committees of the Traditional Councils and the Regional and National Houses of Chiefs.

“The Court of Appeal did not and could not declare Nii Adama Latse II as Ga Mantse,” the statement read.

“The court merely upheld an administrative order — specifically, an order of mandamus compelling the Na­tional House of Chiefs to follow due legal process in maintaining or removing names from the National Register,” it said, adding that the substantive matter regarding who rightfully occupies the Ga Mantse Stool remains unresolved and is still pending before the Judicial Committee of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs.

The statement further called on the media and the public to treat with caution the widespread interpretations of the ruling.

“We urge all well-meaning GaDangme citizens and residents of the Ga State to remain calm and not be swayed by misinformation,” the statement said.