Agya Manso Dead

Agya Manso

Peter Alex Mensah, aka Agya Manso, a well-known physically challenged who used to festoon New Patriotic Party (NPP) flags and other paraphernalia on his wheel chair, begging for alms on some principal streets of Accra, is dead.

He was reported to have died at his hometown in the Western Region on Thursday November 24 after a short illness.

According to Paul Kwaku Asaa, a family member who telephoned DAILY GUIDE yesterday, Agya Manso was buried on Monday at Saa, his hometown.

Motorists who drove through the Accra's Museum Road, towards the TUC at the Holy Spirit Cathedral traffic intersection, were bound to see Agya Manso begging for alms as he sat in his wheelchair with a large NPP flag almost covering him.

Motorists and pedestrians alike fixed their gaze on the man when they spotted him as his party flag fluttered behind him on the wheelchair.

While some engaged him in brief chats, others just looked at him and sometimes parted with some coins and even notes.

Recently, the AMA arrested him and others after they were accused of begging on the streets.

Agya Manso spoke to DAILY GUIDE exclusively after his ordeal, recounting the harrowing experience he encountered at the hands of the city guards.

Asked later how he came by the name Agya Manso (father of litigation), he said, 'I hate to be cheated. I have decided never to tell a lie. That is why I am able to speak my mind freely without fear so as a result of that people think I am a litigant.'

Agya Manso was one of the new breed of Ghanaians who were prepared to use the mass media, particularly radio, to educate themselves.

He had a ghetto blaster fixed to his wheelchair to listen to the news daily.

'You see I have my radio fixed here on my wheelchair…I listen to the news every hour to know what is going on in the country and how well the NPP is doing. With this, I do not need anybody to tell me the state of affairs in the country.

'I pray to God that the NPP comes back to power and when that happens, I have a strong belief that Nana Akufo-Addo can put things together for the disabled to also benefit. The NPP needs to work hard to win 2012.'

Agya Manso hailed from Saa near Asankragua in the Western Region.

 He lived at the slums, popularly called Abuja, behind the Cocoa Marketing Board (CMB) headquarters near the Kantamanto Railway Station in Accra. He left behind three children.

By William Yaw Owusu