Nii Ayi Bonte
PRESSURE IS mounting on Nii Ayi Bonte, the supposed Gbese Mantse, to resign after promising to step down as chief should incumbent President John Mahama lose the December 7, 2016 poll.
Kingmakers of Gbese Traditional Area have given him seven days to step down as.
Prior to the elections, Nii Ayi Bonte, known in private life as Tommy Okine, had expressed confidence that Mr. Mahama was going to be retained as President of the Republic of Ghana, vowing to resign, should president-elect, Nana Akufo-Addo, win.
But the incumbent suffered the most humiliating defeat ever in the electoral history of Ghana, losing to Nana Akufo-Addo by a margin of over one million votes.
Since the election results were declared by the Electoral Commission’s (EC’s) Chairperson, Charlotte Osei, the Gbese Mantse had been silent and is yet to fulfill his promise.
Luck eluded him recently when Nana Akufo-Addo and members of his team visited the Ga Traditional Council at Dodowa to thank the chiefs and the queen mothers for their support during the 2016 electioneering campaign – which saw him elected as president.
Minutes after the president-elect and his retinue had arrived at the place, Tommy Okine, former chairman of Accra Hearts of Oak Football Club, allegedly started taking cover – hiding his face.
He had reportedly gone to sit far behind the crowd where he could not be easily identified, with his body language telling of a man feeling quite apprehensive, whiles trying strenuously without success to swerve the prying eyes of journalists and the cameras.
This was followed by a massive social media campaign against the ‘NDC’ chief to willingly step down, but he remains defiant, holding on to his seat, which he placed on the line in solidarity with incumbent Mahama.
But spokesperson for the Gbese kingmakers, Nuumo Okai Keteku, told journalists at a media briefing on Wednesday that the conduct of the chief was shameful, thus calling for his immediate resignation.
According to him, the Gbese Mantse’s open show of support for President Mahama was a violation of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and the Code of Royal Ethics.
Nuumo Keteku said once the chief has breached the Constitution and his code, the only thing left for him to do is step down, warning that the Gbese Mantse “has seven days to do so.”
Kingmakers Versus Youth
However, some Gbese youth have stepped in to defend the embattled Gbese Mantse, vowing that he would not step down as the kingmakers have threatened.
According to the youth, Nii Ayi Bonte’s comment was not in reference to the national elections.
Rather, Chairman of the Gbese youth, Nii Annan Agbo, who addressed a press conference yesterday in Accra, said the beleaguered chief meant that he would abdicate his seat if the NDC and John Mahama lost in his constituency, Odododiodoo.
BY Melvin Tarlue