You are not Sempe Mantse… - Court tells Otintor

An Accra Fast Track High Court has ruled that Nii Otintor II cannot hold himself as the Sempe Mantse in the Ga Traditional Area.

According to the court presided by His Lordship Utter Paul Dery, the only recognized Sempe Mantse is Nii Adote Obuor II, who was enstooled on December 13, 1971.

The court arrived at the decision when it threw out a suit filed by Nii Moi Allotei Brown also known Nii Otintor II against the Adansie Newspaper and four other persons.

He sued the paper and the four others for defamation and wanted the court to grant him damages in the sum of ten million Ghana Cedis.

Again, Nii Otintor wanted the court to restrain the paper and the four others from publishing any further defamatory material about him. He also wanted legal costs.

However, the court on June 20, 2014 ruled that the defendants in the suit were able to provide a copy of a gazette notification in the Local Government Bulletin dated August 10, 1990 in which it was stated that James Nee Allotey was enstooled on December 13, 1971 as the Sempe Mantse under the stool name Nii Adote Obuor II.

The court ruled that from the response of Nii Otintor II in connection with the authenticity of the gazette notification that James Nee Allotey is the Sempe Mantse under the stool name Nii Adote Obuor II, it was clear that he (Nii Otintor) finds solace in the defendants’ publication that he is the Sempe Mantse.

According to the court, Nii Otintor failed to indorse the writ with sufficient particulars of the publication as required by law.

The court ruled that if Nii Otintor does not have the capacity as Sempe Mantse and should not have assumed that capacity because he was referred in that particular capacity.

“If that were the case people could deliberately engage others to honor them with capacities they do not really have,” the court ruled.