The Paramount Chief of the Gbese Traditional Area, Nii Dr Ayi-Bonte II, has called for the reconstitution of the Ga State Council (GSC) to mediate and foster unity among all members of the Ga State.
He said the lack of unity among the various traditional councils in the Ga State could be blamed largely for the underdevelopment of the people, and the GSC could serve as a special purpose vehicle in addressing some of these challenges.
"Unless we set our differences aside and come together as one people with a common agenda, we will continue to lag behind despite being the custodian of the nation's capital," he stressed.
In an exclusive interview with the Ghanaian Times in his office in Accra on Tuesday, Nii Ayi-Bonte said the reconstitution would not in any way seek to undermine the paramountcy status of the individual traditional areas, but rather provide a mechanism for the various paramount chiefs to peer review each other.
He explained that the defunct GSC had a composition comprising the Ga Mantse, Asere Mantse, James Town Mantse, La Mantse, Teshie Mantse, Nungua Mantse, Tema Mantse, Osu Alata Mantse and the Gbese Mantse, and played a key role in the administration of the Ga State.
"I believe as leaders of Accra we must reconsider our actions and work to reconstitute the GSC as it was then. It will not be out of place to revisit the system as it existed then," he emphasised.
Touching on some issues bedeviling his traditional area, he said 104 communities out of which 92 were duly registered, formed the Gbese Traditional Area.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Nii Gbese said Gbese acquired all it lands through the 1733 Akwamu war, as such the allegations by one Nii Tetteh Adjeben II that the Adabraka and Atupai lands were given to him by the colonial administrators were unfounded.
He said Adabraka and Atupai were all communities under the traditional area and remained important communities in the traditional area.
Nii Ayi-Bonte said it was wrong for any chief on Gbese land to try and hold himself as independent, and separate from the traditional area.
"The Gbese Paramountcy want to make it clear again that to the best of its knowledge Adabraka had been without a substantive chief since the demise of Nii Tetteh Adjabeng I," he said.
He noted that as part of the re-organisation of the traditional area, all communities had been given six months to register with the Gbese Traditional Council, stressing that "any chief who fails to do that by the end of the six months would have himself to blame."
Nii Gbese said this was not the time for show of power and arrogance but a period for reflection and how to unite to develop the traditional area, and the entire Ga State as a whole.
He explained that Gbese remained the Adonteng of the Ga State and must be accorded that respect and recognition since that was the tradition.
The Paramount Chief appealed to all stakeholders in the traditional area and Accra in particular, to bring about the needed development.
