Pressure group, OccupyGhana has called on government to ascertain and address any legitimate demands concerning the issue of the Western Togolanders.
The group also wants the government to prosecute any suspect in the recent violent secessionists attacks in the Volta Region to the fullest extent possible.
“Any brazenness of any illegal group should be matched with a strong enforcement of the law,” it said.
This was contained in a statement issued by OccupyGhana and copied to the Ghanaian Times yesterday.
The group urged the government to firmly maintain the position that any call for secession or separation from Ghana is criminal and would not be countenanced.
“We urge the government to ascertain any relevant and justified grievances and address those that are capable of being addressed. This would be proper and in line with the constitutional injunction on the State to ‘foster a spirit of loyalty to Ghana that overrides sectional, ethnic and other loyalties.
“However, we urge the government to firmly assert that secession, separation or severing of any part of this great nation is a treasonous anathema that should not and cannot even be broached or be on the agenda,” the statement said.
It also debunked several claims made by the secessionist group concerning their mandate over the once British Togoland territory.
They stated that the legislative history leading to the amalgamation of the British Togoland to the then Gold Coast is “incontestable as propagated by the Western Togolanders, and thus the territory of Ghana cannot be compromised.”
“Section 1 of the 1957 Ghana Independence Act (the legislation by which Britain granted independence) identified the new independent territory as ‘the Gold Coast as defined in and for the purposes of the Gold Coast (Constitution) Order-In-Council, 1954.’ Section 1(1) of this Order-In-Council defined ‘the Gold Coast’ as ‘the Gold Coast Colony, Ashanti and the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast; and for the purposes of this Order references to the Gold Coast shall be construed as including Togoland under United Kingdom Trusteeship.’”
It added that: “Having adopted this inclusive definition of ‘the Gold Coast,’ the Independence Act then provided that that ‘Gold Coast…SHALL as from (6 March 1957) TOGETHER FORM part of Her Majesty’s dominions under the name of Ghana,’ and that ‘as from [6 March 1957], Her Majesty’s government in the United Kingdom shall have no responsibility for the government of Ghana or any part thereof.”
OccupyGhana, therefore, argued that the claims of the secessionists are false and baseless.
“It is, therefore, blindingly obvious that the claim that some other or further document or action was required to unite the then British Togoland with the rest of the Gold Coast, is palpably baseless and profoundly false,” it said.
The group said while it appreciates the government’s early efforts in quelling the actions of the secessionists, Ghana must avoid having a false sense of security especially as the country approaches the 2020 polls.
“We acknowledge the initial response of the government in dealing with and containing the matter. However, we should not be lulled into a false sense of security, especially as an election approaches,” the statement added.
BY TIMES REPORTER
