Ghanaian King Who Rules His People By Skype Has ‘Four Crowns Stolen’

Togbe Ngoryifia Cephas Kosi Bansah, King of the Ewe people in Ghana (Reuters / Ralph Orlowski)

A king of a Ghanaian tribe, who rules his people via Skype, e-mail and phone from Germany, has been the victim of burglary. The thieves reportedly managed to steal four crowns.

RT.com monitored reports say King Togbe Ngoryifia Cephas Kosi Bansah, 66, who rules an area in southeastern Ghana, came home with his German wife, Gabriele, to find out his house had been ransacked.

The thieves took almost all his royal regalia, including crowns and golden chains, from his house in Ludwigshafen.

“Thieves had come [sic] over the balcony on the first floor, prised the door open, smashed the cabinets and ransacked everything,” Cephas Bansah told the UK’s Times newspaper.

The stolen items are several hundred years old and irreplaceable. Their value was put at about €20,000 (£15,900). 

While residing in Germany, King Bansah rules his 200,000 plus people via Skype, e-mail, tax and phone. He fell in love with Germany while learning mechanics during a student exchange program back in 1970.

His grandfather, the reigning king, died in 1987 and Cephas Bansah became the new king. His father and elder brother were deemed “unfit” to rule as both were left-handed, which is seen unclean. The coronation ceremony took place in 1992, but his lifestyle didn’t change – he remained in Germany. 

Bansah is a minor celebrity in the Rheinland-Pfalz region, where he is an entertainer and musician, and takes part in charitable projects.

He makes half a dozen trips to his kingdom every year, but spends several hours a night on Skype discussing tribal policies.