Coup attempt on Ga Mantse: 22 held

Twenty-two people have been picked up by the Accra Regional Police Command to assist in investigations into disturbances at the Ga Mantse's palace in the early hours of Friday.

There was a confrontation between two rival youth groups after one of them had gone to the palace to lock up the gates in a fresh attempt to destool the Ga Mantse, Nii Tackie Tawiah III.


Accra Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Cyprian Zenge, told the Times on telephone that police were dispatched to the palace after a distress call that some youth had gone there to cause commotion.


He said the suspects had been sent to the Regional Police Headquarters to be screened.


Meanwhile, Lawrence Markwei reports that the Ga Mantse, Nii Tackie Tawiah III, has dismissed rumours that he has been destooled following yesterday's skirmishes at his palace.


In a move reminiscent of a military coup d' etat, a group of young people stormed the palace in the early hours and locked up the gates.

However the timely intervention of the police in opening the gates to allow free movement of people prevented a possible clash between the invaders and people loyal to the Ga Mantse.


The Ga Mantse was not at the palace at the time of the attack. On being contacted by the Times later in the day, he expressed dismay at the development and asked people to respect the tradi¬tional norms of the Ga State.


He discounted the notion that the incident could constitute destoolment, saying "processes for destooling a chief are spelt out clearly by traditional practices and conventions."


Nii Tackie Tawiah condemned the actions of the group saying that it was uncalled for, especially at a time Gas have retreated into meditation to pray for peace and abundance of harvest ahead of the Homowo FestivaL


"These people have chosen to break the silence by creating a situation which will bring mayhem and confusion at this time of the year," he lamented.