December 2, 2009
SUPREME COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The Supreme Court of Ghana allowed the appeal by Odeneho A. Krukoko II against the Court of Appeal’s ruling that his application for leave to seek mandamus was incompetent. Krukoko II sought mandamus to compel the National House of Chiefs to delete the entry of Osagyefo Kwamena Enimil VI from the National Register of Chiefs and to reinstate his own name. The Court addressed key doctrines: it clarified that estoppel per rem judicatam generally applies only to final decisions and does not bar renewed interlocutory applications; interpreted Article 136(5) on stare decisis (with some concurring judges disagreeing on the binding effect of pre‑1993 precedents); and held that Order 59 rule 3 of LN 140A governs certiorari, not mandamus. Adopting Halsbury’s formulation, the Court reaffirmed that mandamus ordinarily requires a demand and refusal, and any time limit runs from refusal. Ex parte Faibil was overruled insofar as it applied a six‑month limit to mandamus. The High Court’s grant of leave was restored and the matter remitted for determination on the merits.
DR. DATE-BAH JSC:-
What is before this Court is an appeal from proceedings that were initiated by an ex parte motion for leave to apply for an order of mandamus which was heard at the High Court, Kumasi. The motion was filed on 6th September 2004 and it
sought liberty to apply for an order of mandamus requiring the respondent, namely the National House of Chiefs:
“(1) to delete from the National Register of Chiefs the name and particulars of Osagyefo Kwamena Enimil VI as Omanhene of the Wassa Fiase Traditional Area, And
(2) to re-instate in the said Register the name and particulars of the Applicant as the Paramount Chief of the Wassa Fiase Traditional Area,
And for such further or other order as to this Hon. Court may appear just or proper.”
The applicant claims to be the Omanhene of the Wassa Fiase Traditional Area in the Western Region. He deposed to an affidavit in support of his motion in which he affirmed that he was enstooled the Omanhene of that traditional area in June 1994 in accordance with custom and usage. His name and particulars were then duly recorded in the National Register of Chiefs by the National House of Chiefs. In November 1994, two cousins of the applicant brought a petition in the Western Region House of Chiefs challenging his nomination as Omanhene. The applicant’s affidavit evidence declared that this petition together with an interim injunction restraining him from holding himself out as Omanhene and President of the Wassa Fiase Traditional Council were never served on him. Nevertheless, in May 1995, the applicant together with his mother, the Queenmother, and all his kingmakers were convicted of contempt by the High Court, Sekondi, for infringing the said interim injunction. This conviction was subsequently quashed by the Supreme Court in December 1995. In November 1998, the applicant was again convicted of contempt of the Regional House of Chiefs by the High Court, Sekondi, in respect of an incident involving his receiving an oath of allegiance from a Divisional Chief. This conviction was also set aside by the Court of Appeal in April 1999. Finally, the applicant was convicted by the High Court, Sekondi, in April 2002 for continuing to hold himself out as Omanhene in spite of the interim injunction of 1994. The applicant was sentenced to 14 days imprisonment, without the option of a fine, and he served 14 days in the Central Prison, Sekondi. Whilst the applicant was in prison, he was informed that the Reverend William Ch