One of the quarters of Ga Mashie (old Accra), with its own stool. Field (1940) records that Gbese was founded when supporters of the heir in the female line broke away from Abola, and that in the Dutch period it was attached to Abola. As common nouns, Zimmermann (1858) also lists gbese as a kind of red ant and as 'backside, outside'.
Gbese is one of the historic quarters of central Accra.