All hell broke loose yesterday when �Gbese Mantse� Nii Ayi Bonte and other kingmakers of the Ga Paramount Stool Dsase, together with members of Abola Piam, Gbese and Asere stools (Kingmakers) as well as traditional priests (Wulomei), took over the Ga Mantse�s palace located at North Kaneshie in Accra.
They went there to outdoor a rival King of the Ga state, who was installed Ga Mantse Boni Nii Tackie Adama Latse II, in a dramatic �coup d��tat� last Sunday.
But the comments of the �Gbese Mantse� who stood up boldly to declare: �I don�t want no bull shit and no God damn shit�, has sent scary signals to some Accra residents, especially since it showed a semblance of one ready to take the law into his hands.
Nii Ayi Bonte further issued a scary directive to his warriors to go to various lorry stations in the capital to collect tolls from trotro drivers with effect from today Tuesday June 14, 2011, since according to him, he cannot fathom why the Ghana Private Road and Transport Union (GPRTU) could collect monies from these drivers as toll and not him, the Gbese Mantse.
He dared whoever wants to challenge him on any of the decisions he has taken to come forward, since he is more than prepared to meet the person boot-for-boot.
The �Gbese Mantse�, otherwise known as Tommy Okine and his team, supported by the Sakumono Wulomo and some elders of the Ga state, stormed the palace in the early hours of yesterday.
They were supported by various youth groups in Accra who gathered at the palace to lend weight to the programme, while other supporters arrived fully prepared with fufu pestles, mortars, cooking pots and pans in readiness to take over the palace.
Nii Ayi Bonte said Dr. Jo Blankson, otherwise known as King Tackie Tawiah II, who was installed six years ago, could at best be a �horse manager� and not the King of the chiefs and people of Accra.
He therefore stressed the need for the man he described as a self-styled chief to prepare to account for the amount of �1.2billion he claimed to have expended on the funeral of the late Ga Mantse, Boni Nii Amugi Sorse II.
He also accused Dr Jo Blankson and his cohort of looting the coffers of the Traditional Council.
The �Gbese Mantse� has since promised to set up a three-member committee in the next couple of days to investigate how those monies were expended. �But let me tell you one thing, they will not go scot free. Each and every one of them would account for the monies they spent,� he said.
He claimed some of these monies were used by Dr Blankson and his supposed cohort to purchase flashy vehicles, houses and corn mills at the expense of the state and its people. For this reason, Nii Ayi Bonte said, �I am only giving them a bit of time. When the time comes and they have not paid, then they will see.�
According to him, some of these individuals and group or persons have been pleading but the time is long overdue and that they would have to account for their deeds.
He however told residents of Accra and especially Gas to brace themselves for a massive take-off and called for all hands to be on deck to change the fortunes of the Ga state.
Incidentally, at the time the �Gbese Mantse� and his elders were busy addressing the press conference, a group of women had gathered under one of the huts at the palace with a mortar and pestle ready to pound fufu for the group that had taken over the palace.
They were seen peeling cassava.
However, Nii Boye Abbey, spokesperson for Dr Jo Blankson, the supposed dethroned Ga Mantse, has described the enstoolment of Nii Tackie Adama Latse II as a �sacrilege and an insult to the Ga throne�.
Nii Boye Abbey said the supposed new chief had his parents �adopted into the Teiko Tsuru We� and is �nowhere close to the throne�.
He also accused persons within the ruling NDC government of supervising the sacrilegious act because they have always held the belief and misconception that King Tackie Tawiah was installed by the erstwhile NPP administration.
He mentioned the Ga South DCE, as well as the twin brother of the Member of Parliament for the Odododiodoo constituency, Nii Tackie Commey and some national security operatives as supervising the act.
Nii Abbey said the action flies in the face of rule of law, adding that they will take legal action against the claimants.
Meanwhile, Bright Akwetey, counsel for the Abola Piam family that installed the new chief, has dissociated himself from the act.
He described Sunday�s installation of Nii Tackie Adama Latse II and his subsequent takeover of the Ga Mantse Palace as embarrassing to the Ga people and the Ga State. Even though he conceded that his clients are the legitimate heirs to the Ga throne, he said he would not advocate a forceful takeover, particularly when portions of the chieftaincy dispute remain in the courts.
�I saw it coming and I got to know that people were pushing it. So I advised my clients and I advised the Dzaase people that you are the legitimate people to install a Ga Manste but once you have taken the case to Dodowa (the Ga Traditional Council) and you want the Chiefs to adjudicate upon it, it means you couldn�t do anything about it, that is why you took the case to Dodowa. So if the chiefs are waiting to finish the case and it is about getting to the end and then you take the law into your own hands and go and install a Ga Mantse, I feel embarrassed,� he said.
�If you install a chief in conflict, you harvest conflict,� he told Joy News.
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