The king is the spiritual leader of more than two million Ewe people in the West African nation, "ruling" his subjects remotely via Skype while working as a mechanic in Germany.
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| King Cephas Bansah, 67, is considered the "spiritual leader of the Ewe people" in Togo, the West African country that borders Ghana. |
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| He grew up in Ghana and came to Germany in 1970 when his grandfather, the then King of Togo, encouraged his grandson to study mechanical engineering. After completing his studies, he obtained German citizenship, married, had children and opened his own mechanical workshop in Ludwigshafen. |
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| He lived a simple life in Germany until 1987, when he received a fax that changed his life. |
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| His grandfather died, and Bansah's father and brother were unfit to be king because they were both left-handed - considered "unclean" by the Ewe - so Bansah returned to his country to take the throne. |
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| After his coronation, everyone thought he would give up his life in Germany and stay in Togo as king. However, Bansah decided to return to Germany and continue working as a mechanic. |
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| In the age of information technology, he often uses Skype to contact his homeland, "ruling" more than two million Ewe people living in Ghana and Togo. |
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| German photographer Christina Czybik spent the day visiting Bansah's home. "He invited me to join a delegation visiting Ghana this September. I booked the tickets," Czybik said. |
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| Ghana is now a republic with a democratic government. However, the king still nominally plays an important role in the community. |
According to VNE
