HSGF declares independence for ' Western Togoland'
The Volta Regional Security Council has held an emergency meeting over the declaration of independence for the Volta and Oti regions.
The meeting which was held on Monday followed a declaration by the Homeland Study Group Foundation (HSGF) on Saturday November 16, 2019 to announce independence for a territory they call 'Western Togoland' as a sovereign state.
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The declaration took place at the former Unity Rural Bank in Ho which is about 100 meters away from police training school and was broadcasted live on Facebook.
HSGF has been demanding the secession of the Volta Region and parts of the Northern, North East and Upper East Regions from Ghana to become the Western Togoland state.
The leader, 85-year-old Charles Kormi Kudzordzi along with eight others were arrested by a combined team of police and military personnel at Ho on Sunday, May 9, 2019 and were charged with treason, abetment of unlawful assembly and offensive conduct conducive to the breach of peace.
The accused were Mr Bisa Akorli, 54, Mr Kofi Dzereke, 39, Mr Thompson Tsigbe, 58, Mr Benjamin Agbadzada, 48, Mr Agbenyega Akudzi, 54, Mr Freemen Blikaku, 36, and Mr Nkpe Tsryiri Kudzo aged 61.
They were however released on Monday July 8, 2019, on the advise of the Attorney General.
Before the arrest, the group had designed their currency and their flag in anticipation of their independence.
According to the leader of the group, Mr Charles Kormi Kudzordzi, residents of the Western Togoland voted to become a union with the Gold Coast (now Ghana) but the union had not been established up till now.
He explained that Ghana opted to be a unitary state under the plebiscite in 1956 [referendum] to be in union with a common constitution but with the Western Togoland and the Gold Coast there had been no unionised constitution up to date.
The Western Togoland stretches from Kulungugu in the Upper East Region to Keta on the Southern coast by the Atlantic Ocean.