69-year-old Ghanaian King Togbe Ngoryifia Cephas Kosi Bansah, who rules over 300,000 people in the Hohoe, east of Ghana from a southern Germany city, Ludwigshafen where he has lived in since 1970, just built a jail for women in the Ghanaian town.German Press Agency (DPA) reports that Ghanaian King disclosed that “Male and female detainees of all ages were held there and the women were subjected to sexual assault by the men,” he said. “This was an unacceptable situation – we needed to build cells for women.” he said.
Though Bansah and his wife covered two thirds of the costs, other facilities in the jail building which is painted white and has three cells containing bunk beds, came from private contributions.
It was gathered that women and underage suspects will be held at the jail, which has a plaque acknowledging the financial contributions of the town of Heiligkreuzsteinach in Baden-Württemberg and Sonja Müller, another state resident.
King Bansah was named successor to the crown in 1987, when his grandfather – the reigning king died. He was chosen over his father and older brother, simply because they were left handed. The trait is apparently considered unclean and indicative of dishonesty in Hohoe.
The coronation ceremony took place in 1992, but King Bansah decided him being a king didn’t require moving back to Africa. He still lives in Ludwigshafen, near Frankfurt, with his German wife Gabriele, where he runs a car repair garage and also finds the time to govern the 200,000 Hohoe people in southeastern Ghana, through Skype and telephone calls. According to news reports, he even stays up late at night to rule on tribal disputes and makes sure to visit his kingdom at least six times a year.
Although he remained in Germany, he hasn’t allowed the distance to affect his duties as king. He has campaigned extensively on behalf of his country and helped secure medical aid. He also sends water purification equipment back home quite regularly.
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