By Alex Boye
An Accra High Court, General Jurisdiction 12, presided by His Lordship Charles Gyamfi-Danquah, on Monday, 30th October, 2023, stopped Edmund Nii Arday Ankrah, also known as Nii Adjabeng Ankrah II, from describing himself as legitimate Head of the Mantse Ankrah royal family.
The ruling comes after a protracted litigation about the legitimacy or otherwise of Edmund Nii Arday Ankrah who used to describe himself as the leader and chief of the Mantse Ankrah royal family. He was captured in suit No.GJ/0169/2021, in the matter between Emmanuel Nii Ankrah, Nii Amanor Ankrah and Joseph Nii Ankrah (PLAINTIFFS) Vrs Edmund Nii Ardey Ankrah.
The court which, granted all the reliefs the plaintiffs sought ordered Nii Ardey not to parade himself as family head and or chief again.
He has also been ordered to render accounts and hand over all family regalia and properties in his custody and return the keys of the family mausoleum to the plaintiffs within 7days. Failure to comply with the directive by the courts should compel he plaintiff in the case to institute legal action against him in court. A cost of Forty Thousand Ghana Cedis was further awarded by the court to the plaintiffs.
Speaking to the Plaintiffs’ Counsel after the judgment, Lawyer Heward-Mills said he is excited that the case which commenced in 2021 finally came to a conclusion and justice had been served in favour of his clients. He, however, insisted that he needed to get the certified hard copy of the judgment to peruse for accuracy so that he could give full response to it. “Otherwise, it is a good judgment,” he said, “we have requested for the certified true copy of the judgment so that we can start with the execution processes.”
“This judgment paves the way for the Okanta lineage of the Mantse Ankrah royal family to provide us with our next head of family and chief. Per our traditions and customs, it is their turn to nominate some individuals for the family to vet and choose one to lead. And, we hope to do that as soon as practicable,” one of the plaintiffs said.
Following his defeat, on the same day in the premises of the Accra High court, a case involving the defendant and Adolf Ankrah and others which, was set for trial on 30th October 2023 in suit No. LD/0910/2018 had to be discontinued by the defendant. A cost of Ten thousand Cedis was awarded against him.
Mantse Ankrah royal family has three branches, each with its own head and are described in the proceedings as Ankrah, Ayi and Okanta sections. On top of all these three, is the overall head of the composite family. And, it is the turn of the Okanta’s to head the family, not the Ayi’s. But, Nii Ardey knowing the customs and traditions still went against them to parade himself as head of the family and or chief.
