GA STATE UNITES FOR ROYAL FUNERAL

THE impasse between the Ga Traditional Council and the Ga Royal Stool (Dzaase), kingmakers of the Ga Stool, which seemed to threaten the funeral of the late Ga Mantse, Nii Amugi II , has now been resolved.
Consequently, the entire Dzaase, the customarily mandated body in the Ga State to oversee the burial of Ga Mantse, has agreed to actively participate in the funeral programme.
The burial is scheduled for January 27.
Before the settlement, a section of the Dzaase, which is made up of the elders of four royal families, had distanced itself from the arrangements and threatened to boycott the funeral, saying they had been sidelined.
It also resolved to petition the President to inform him about what they saw as irregularities. The resolution of the impasse followed the intervention of the minister of state at the Presidency in-charge of Chieftaincy and Culture, Sampson Kwaku Boafo, and the Mayor of Accra, Stanley Nii Adjiri Blankson, who at separate meetings on Wednesday, convinced the parties involved to resolve their differences and unite to ensure a peaceful funeral, befitting the late king.
Later, at another meeting at the Ga Mantse Palace on the same day, chaired by the acting President of the Ga Traditional Council, Nii Adote Obour, leaders of the Dzaase and the late King’s family, Amugi We, affirmed of their resolve to forget their differences.
Nii Obuor is said to have succeeded in convincing the aggrieved section of the Dzaase that it was not the council’s intention to sideline them in the preparations. The problem stemmed from the fact that the aggrieved faction had not been able to agree on their representation on the Dzaase.
A statement issued by the Council yesterday on the resolution of the impasse said 'by the understanding reached between the Dzaase and the Council, the consideration of the case of who should be the Ga Dzaasetse is suspended until after the funeral, in line with the Council’s decision last Saturday to suspend with immediate effect the meetings of its judicial committees.
'Further, none of the rival Dzaasetsemei (Dzaase elders) is to hold himself as such during the funeral until the case has been decided by the Council,' it said.
The acting President of the Council commended the Dzaase for the understanding and the show of unity, and thanked the minister and the mayor for their intervention.
Meanwhile, Mr. J.E. Allotey-Pappoe, chairman of the Funeral Public Relations Committee, told the Times that all cases pending before the Judicial Committee of the Council, including the dispute on the installation of the new Ga Mantse and Dzaasetse (Dzaase Head), have been suspended until after the funeral.
He said following the objection to Dr. Jo Blankson’s installation as Ga Mantse, he would not play any role in the funeral programme.
Dr. Blankson, a member of the National Development Planning Commission was last year installed as Ghana Mantse under the stool name King Tackie Tawiah III, by one of the royal house, Nii Akropong We, but his installation was challenged by the other three royal houses which claimed that it was not legitimate.
Nii Amuji died in December 2004 at the age of 65 after reigning for 39 years.