The writer

Western Togoland — My take on the enigma

Wg. Cdr. Kwaku Kekrebesi Opinion May - 31 - 2023 , 08:28

In 1884, the Germans also arrived on the coast of West Africa to join the bandwagon of colonialists.

This German adventure was the outcome of what became known as the Berlin Conference, where all European nations were called to declare their colonial possessions in order to curtail petty squabblings among them.

The German leader at the time, Otto Von Bismarck, declared that "Germany also needs a place in the sun."

Connoting Germany must also possess the empires of Britain and France in Africa.

So the Germans arrived with a bang in 1884 to establish one of their colonies in Africa, called German Togo.

However, in 1914, Germany was blamed for starting the First World War in Europe and was declared an enemy state.

History has it that British soldiers from the Gold Coast and French soldiers from Dahomey, now Benin, marched on the small garrison of German soldiers from the west and east, respectively, and crashed them.

Michael Crowder's account in his book, West Africa Under Colonial Rule (1976), said the Germans had only the equivalent of a police force in place.

Division

The German colony was then divided between the British and the French but remained Mandated Territories, first under the League of Nations and later as Trust Territories under the United Nations.

The British called their portion British Togoland while the French continued to rule their part until granting it independence in 1963 as the Republic of Togo.

The British divided their portion into two, northern and southern British Togoland.

The northern part was administered by the northern territories of the Gold Coast while the south was attached to the eastern province, administratively.

Many Historians blame Britain for the mess we are now calling Western TogoIand agitations.

In the study, I never came across the name Western Togoland and I am not sure when it was first used.

Like, dislike

While the split of German Togo benefited most of the people in the north, especially the Dagombas, Mamprusis and the Gonjas, the majority of Eʋes in the south were aggrieved.

The Northerners had benefited because their traditional homes and people had been joined to their commercial centres.

Dagombas for example, now have their traditional home of Yendi under the same colonial administration as their commercial centre in Tamale.

The Eʋes on the other hand have left their kith and kin back in the French side of German Togo and wished for the re-creation of German Togo.

This ambivalence could only be solved through the tacit agreement of Britain and France.

Colonial/Native disagreement

Britain and France did what they wanted and all the protestations of the Eʋes fell on deaf ears.

The Eʋes took their case to the United Nations.

They even petitioned King George V of England.

In what Professor D.E.K Amenumey — Eʋe Unification Movement (1989) — described as petitions against partition, the Eʋes in their desperation sent a cable to President Harding of the United States.

No one can say the Eʋes did not try.

Agenda of Eʋes

During all their struggles, the Eʋes never hid the fact that they hated the French with a passion.

The Eʋes wished to be under a single colonial administration, and that administration was that of the British.

Indeed, the Eʋe Unification Movement spelt out these aims and objectives of the Eʋes.

Eʋes, however, enjoyed the full support of the people in northern British Togoland.

Having failed in their bid to re-establish German Togo, the Eʋes in British Togoland now turned their attention to the Gold Coast, in an effort to strictly remain a United Nation Trust Territory until such time that the people decide otherwise.

Colonial Government/ Nkrumah

Perhaps, on one of the few occasions, Kwame Nkrumah and the Colonial Authority were in the same boat.

They fought the aims and objectives of the Eʋes in British Togoland, especially before the plebiscite which was to decide, finally, the unification or union between British Togoland and the Gold Coast at Independence.

The British and the CPP put out an effective propaganda campaign.

These encounters were sometimes violent.

Unification or union?

The results of the plebiscite showed a unanimous wish from the people of British Togoland to join Ghana at Independence.

The Eʋe areas, however, voted not to join Ghana.

The uncertainty was, and is still, whether the joining was to be a Unification or a Union.

My little understanding of Unification is like the case of all other parts of Ghana at Independence under a unitary government.

However, like the opponents of British Togoland joining Ghana at Independence gave, their envisaged Union was to be like that of England and Scotland.

Togoland or Eʋe Unification?

Throughout this discourse, Togoland Unification was rarely seen as an option.

It would benefit, mainly, just one ethnic group, the Eʋes.

Thus, most of the other ethnic groups in British Togoland would have lost out.

The northerners, who hitherto had supported the Eʋe unification, refused to join the Eʋes in their fight for the re-creation of German Togo.

While the re-creation of German Togo would unite the Eʋes, it would end up disuniting the northerners.

Furthermore, the Eʋe Unification Movement, which sought to put the Eʋes under British administration and rescue Eʋes from the French administration, is exactly what I can see in British Togoland joining Ghana or, at least, a step in that direction.

Albeit the settlement of Unification or Union enigma.

What the Western Togoland proponents must know is that no country will stomach the re-drawing of its borders.

The second option of uniting the Eʋes is also lost.

Conclusion

The German Colony called German Togo became British Togoland and the Republic of Togo.

While the French ruled their share of German Togo like all colonies before granting them independence, the British on the other hand started the assimilation process of theirs into the Gold Coast right from the outset.

The British achieved this amalgamation by dividing British Togoland into northern and southern parts and attaching them to two administrative regions of the Gold Coast.

Many Historians criticised Britain over the handling of British Togoland affairs.

From the splitting of German Togo to the division of British Togoland into its two parts, the majority ethnic group in the south, the Eʋes, got greatly disadvantaged.

While the ethnic groups in the north rejoined their kith and kin mostly, the Eʋes in the south lost theirs to French Togo.

The Eʋes called for the re-creation of the erstwhile German Togo to rejoin their fellow Eʋes.

The clarion call was made through the Eʋe Unification Movement, which sought to unite all Eʋes under Britain and also liberate the Eʋes from French rule.

Having lost the struggle to re-create German Togo and also come together under one authority, the Eʋes then turned their attention to Britain's efforts to join British Togoland to the Gold Coast at independence.

The Eʋes wanted British Togoland to remain under the United Nations Trusteeship until such time that the people decide otherwise.

The amalgamating of British Togoland with the Gold Coast at Independence was close to the aims and objectives of the Eʋe Unification Movement, in my opinion.

The recreation of German Togo is a mission impossible since it will alienate almost all the northern British Togoland ethnic groups.

The unification of the Eʋes, too, is looking like a pipe dream.

No country would agree to redraw its national borders in this 21st century.

The way forward is for Eʋes, wherever they find themselves, to conjure enough goodwill which will enable authorities to allow free inter-ethnic movements.