The Gbese Mantse, Nii Ayi Bonte II, has further stoked the embers of controversy surrounding the contentious issue of who is the rightful claimant to the Ga stool by emphatically stating that the widely- acclaimed Ga Mantse and recognised chairman of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs, King Tackie Tawiah III was only Chairman of a funeral committee and therefore a usurper.

The Ga Traditional Council was thrown into crisis over the weekend as the Stool house was raided and a rival “Ga Mantse” installed; giving the Ga Traditional Area two occupants to the throne.

With King Tackie Tawiah II who was installed in 2006, still in office, a rival king Boni Nii Tackie Adama Latse II was enstooled amidst the firing of musketry, drumming and dancing.

The Gbese Mantse, Nii Ayibonte II, in the early hours of Monday barged into the offices of the Ga Traditional Council and the Ga Mantse Palace, seizing the two main powerhouses of the Ga Kingdom.

Speaking in interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi in Ga on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo Morning show, Nii Ayi Bonte II revealed that King Tackie Tawiah III was never the Ga Mantse but was appointed chairman of a funeral committee and member of the panel prospective for a new Ga chief.

Also known as Tommy Okine, the former Chief Executive of Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, who rubbished off the legitimacy of King Tackie Tawiah’s kingship, said there was nothing sacrilegious in their act pointing out that he (Gbese Mantse) was the only person who had the authority to enstool a new Ga Mantse to succeed Nii Amugi II who passed on into eternal glory on December 10th, 2004.

“…Tackie Tawiah personally declared himself Ga Mantse not the traditional council…there is only one Ga Mantse in the person of Boni Nii Tackie Adama Latse II who we enstooled over the weekend…I’m the one sole kingmaker and there is only one Ga Mantse…. In 2006, King Tackie Tawiah was appointed funeral committee chairman and he declared himself Ga Mantse. When I was appointed in 2007, there was no Ga Mantse so I was acting as the Ga Mantse until one is appointed and fortunately, we have appointed one, Boni Nii Tackie Adama Latse II to succeed the late Nii Amugi II,” he said.

Boni Nii Tackie Adama Latse II is known in private life as George Tackie. He is a UK-based businessman and hails from Piam, one of the Royal Houses within the Ga state.

But the camp of the widely-acclaimed Ga Mantse, King Tackie Tawiah III, is not enthused by the current state of affairs and fingers government in the whole scheme of things. His spokesperson, Nii Boye Abbey, speaking on the same platform described the purported installation of a new Ga Mantse as an insult to the Ga state.

According to him, whiles history is replete with chieftaincy issues within the Ga State, nowhere in the Ga Tradition is it stated that it is the duty of the Gbese Mantse to install a Ga Mantse. He added that so long as the Ga Mantse is alive, the enstoolment of Boni Nii Tackie Adama Latse II is null and void.

He accused persons within the ruling NDC government of supervising the sacrilegious act mainly because they have always believed that King Tackie Tawiah was installed by the erstwhile NPP administration. He named the Ga South DCE, as well as the twin brother of the Member of Parliament for the Odododiodio constituency, and some national security operatives as supervising the act.

Asked what steps King Tawiah III will take to reclaim his kingship, he replied that as law abiding citizens, he (King Tackie Tawiah) will file contempt charges against the side which installed Boni Nii Tackie Adama Latse II as the Ga Mantse.

Meanwhile, peacefmonline.com can confirm the presence of heavy security at the Ga Mantse Palace in Accra to forestall a possible bloody clash as two factions lay claim to the stool.

According to PeaceFM’s Akwasi Agyeman who is at the Ga Mantse’s palace, the Acting Public Affairs Director of the Ghana Police Service, DSP Cephas Arthur told newsmen that they are there only to maintain law and order.

The installation of Dr Jo Blankson of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) as the new Ga Mantse generated a storm of controversy a couple of years ago, because the three of the four royal houses said the purported action was a violation of Ga custom.

Dr Blankson, whose stool name is King Tackie Tawiah III and is a member of the Law Review Commission, was installed on June 11, 2006 by Nii Akropong III, the Head of the Teiko Tsuru We, one of the four clans of the Ga State, to succeed Nii Amugi II, who passed away two years ago.

But the three other houses, Amugi We, Piam We and Tackie Komme We, distanced themselves from the purported installation, describing it as unlawful and against the traditions and customs of the Ga State. They therefore asked the public to ignore King Tackie Tawiah III while efforts were being made to get the right person to succeed the deceased king of the Ga people, who is also yet to be buried.

A press release signed by the acting heads of the three houses and issued in Accra on Thursday 15th June, 2006 said, “It has come to the notice of three of the four ruling houses of the Ga Royal Dzaase, namely, Amugi We, Tackie Komme We and Piam We, that on Sunday, June 11, 2006, one Dr Jo Blankson, aged 63, was purportedly installed as the new Ga Mantse under the stool name King Tackie Tawiah III by Nii Akropong III, the Head of the fourth ruling house, Teiko Tsuru We.

“The three ruling houses mentioned above wish to dissociate themselves from the installation, as it was done without their consent and the fact that the said installation was not done in accordance with Ga custom and usage.”

“Customarily, the deceased Ga Mantse, Nii Amugi II, should be laid to rest before the installation of his successor,” the release added. However, the Head of the Nai We, the House of the Chief Priest of the Ga State, Numo Tumomli Yartey II, requested the public to recognise the new chief who had been installed. He said it was the turn of the Teiko Tsuru We to occupy the stool because when the late chief was installed, the cloth he wore was passed on to that house, “and by tradition the house which has that cloth is the one to select a successor to the throne”.

Numo Yartey said the new chief had been installed by Nii Akropong, the Head of the Teiko Tsuru We, as tradition demanded and in the presence of Nai Wulomo (the Chief Priest) and made it clear that the right proceedings had been followed.

Asafoatse Okpoti III of Asere, who is also from the Numo Yartey We, supported the claim that the four houses were made to select five members each to nominate a Dzaase.

He said after that was done, the man who was installed as such later refused to continue with the processes because he claimed to be a Christian whose values did not agree with the customary practices.

Asafoatse Okpoti said when the other houses were made to present the Dzaase, they refused to do so and, realising that the whole process was delaying, the Teiko Tsuru We had no option but to go ahead to ensure that Dr Blankson, whose turn it was to succeed Nii Amugi, was installed to pave the way for the chief to be laid to rest before the end of the year.

“What has been done is unquestionable and must not be challenged,” he noted. He said the Chief Priest himself had endorsed the process and that was final.