House of Chiefs to meet on Ga Mantse issues (Front Page)

THE National House Chiefs will today begin a two-day meeting in Kumasi to deliberate on the confusion surrounding the Ga Mashie chieftaincy affair.
The meeting, which will also deliberate on other issues, will try to find a way out of the controversies which have emerged in the Ga Traditional Area since an attempt was made to find a successor to the late Ga Mantse, Boni Nii Amugi II, who passed away six years ago.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, the President of the National House of Chiefs, Wulugunaba Naa Professor J.S. Nabila, reiterated that the various groups in the Ga Traditional Area should exercise patience and allow the law to take its course.
He said the law must be respected, adding that since the case was before the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs, there was no need for the installation of other people.
“They should have waited for the outcome of the case,” he stressed.
So far, two other people have laid claim to the Ga Stool, while King Tackie Tawiah III, who was installed in 2006, is still in office.
On Saturday, June 25, 2011, the newly enstooled Ga Mantse, King Boni Nii Tackie Adama Latse II, was introduced at Amugi Naa, opposite the Ussher Fort in Accra.
Nii Latse, known in private life as George Adama Tackie Abia, works with Maersk Company, an international shipping company, as a shipping analyst and co-ordinator.
Another person, popularly known as Ayittey Canada, was also in the news some few weeks ago, claiming to be the rightful occupant of the Ga Stool.
The issue of who qualifies to be the Ga Mantse has been thorny since Nii Amugi’s death, with several people laying claim to the stool.
According to Ga State tradition, the kingship rotates among four Royal houses, namely, Teiko Tsuru We, Amugi We, Abola Piam We and Tackie Kommey We.
It is generally acknowledged that it is the turn of the Abola Piam We to enstool a Ga Mantse.
Meanwhile, the Spokesperson for King Tackie Tawiah, Nii Obi Abbey, has described the installation of a new chief as contempt of court.
He said the Ga Stool was not vacant and that before a new king was installed, there was the need to destool the occupant by preferring the necessary charges against him, noting that nothing of that sort had been done.
The latest twist adds to the number of chieftaincy disputes in several communities in the Ga State. Osu, Nungua and Tema are among communities embroiled in chieftaincy disputes.