Warning of bloodshed in Ga

An opinion leader in the Ga community of Accra, Ambassador K. B. Asante is advocating dialogue to help resolve the now protracted conflict among the Ga people.

Mr. Asante, who is also the president of the Ga-Dangme Council, told the dailyEXPRESS that if care is not taken the city of Accra would be engulfed in bloodshed. According to him, the people of Ga will be the eventual and big losers.

He has therefore appealed to eminent Ga citizens both home and broad to force the two ‘warring’ parties (supporters of the Gbese stool & the Ga Mantse Nii Tackie Tawaih III) to come together and settle their differences.

“But there should be a mediator to do this kind of exercise else we’ll be running in the small circles,” he told this paper. The on-going dispute amidst counter allegations and court cases is the result of claims and counterclaims over the installment of Dr. Joe Blankson as Ga Mantse. The Gbese stool insists that Nii Tackie Tawiah III was not properly installed and can therefore not hold himself up as king of the Ga people. But Mr. Asante says though both sides might have a case, it cannot be resolved by trading sticks and knives. He noted that the two sides have made their arguments, adding that it is now the decision of those who have a deep say in such matters to ensure that the right procedure is followed.

The GaDangbe Council President told the dailyEXPRESS that one of the arguments against the new Mantse is that he comes from a female line and shouldn’t have become the king. “I also know that in the past someone from the female line has been installed as king. It’s not normal so you have to go through the process which means it can be done,” he said.

Mr. Asante also talked about perceptions among some residents that government is directly interfering in the on-going dispute by supporting one faction against the other. He therefore appealed to the government to watch its actions since such perceptions have the tendency of pro-longing the dispute.

The former Ambassador cited for example the role of the police in a recent clash that happened in Jamestown, where most of the youth are on one side were heavily subjected under police brutality while the other group was given cover.

Asked if the solution lies in the disstoolment of the Ga- Mantse, Mr. Asante said that will not in any way bring the needed peace. The solution he explained lies in bringing the two parties together to sit and talk out their differences.