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Mr Kudzordzi was visibly not happy when he was leaving the court premises after his compatriots were refused bail.
Mr Kudzordzi was visibly not happy when he was leaving the court premises after his compatriots were refused bail.

Suspected secessionists leader Kudzordzi granted bail

The octogenarian and leader of the Ho group, said to be planning to declare independence for the Volta Region, Mr Charles Kormi Kudzodzi, a.k.a. Papavi Hogbedetor, has been granted a Gh¢250,000 bail.

He was granted bail with two sureties, one of which is to be justified when he was arraigned at the Accra High Court on Wednesday afternoon.

Graphic Online's court correspondent, Mabel Aku Baneseh reports from the court that the other seven leaders of the group, the Homeland Study Group Foundation (HSGF) who were arrested together with Mr Kudzordzi on Sunday have however been refused bail.

They have subsequently been remanded into police custody until May 22, 2019.

The eight accused persons have been charged with conspiracy to commit treason felony, abetment of unlawful training, unlawful assembly and offensive conduct conducive to the breach of peace.

The court was presided over by a three-member panel, Justices Jerome N. Nkrumah, Ekow Baiden and Afua Serwaa Asare Botchwey.

Aku Baneseh reported that Mr Kudzordzi was visibly not happy when he was leaving the court premises after his compatriots were refused bail.

Read also: 81 members of Volta secessionist group arrested in Ho

Meanwhile, the police have arrested 81 members of the Homeland Study Group Foundation (HSGF), who allegedly intended to demonstrate against the arrest of their leaders reports the Ghana News Agency (GNA).

Suspected secessionists leader Kudzordzi granted bail
Suspected secessionists leader Kudzordzi granted bail

The group calling itself the Homeland Study Group Foundation planned to secede the Volta Region from Ghana and declare it as an independent country called Western Togoland.

Eight of its members were arrested by a combined team of police and military personnel in Ho last Sunday in a house while holding a meeting to finalise arrangements to declare the Volta Region an independent state, on May 9, 20I9.

They claim that the Volta Region (Western Togoland) was formerly an independent state before being made to join Ghana in a plebiscite.

Accused persons

Those arrested, including the 85-year-old Chairman of the group, Mr Charles Kormi Kudzordzi, popularly known as Papavi Hogbedetor, were airlifted by the 66 Artillery Regiment from Ho to Accra and were placed in police custody until they were arraigned on Wednesday at the Accra High Court.

The others are Mr Bisa Akorli, 54, Mr Kofi Dzreke, 39, Mr Thompson Tsigbe, 58, Mr Benjamin Agbadzada, 48, Mr Agbenyega Akudzi, 54, Mr Freemen Blikaku, 36, and Mr Nkpe Tsryiri Kudzo aged 61.

Background

This is the second time, the leadership of the Homeland Study Group Foundation had been arrested for attempting to declare the Volta Region an independent state and although they were charged with treason, they were later cautioned and discharged.

The group 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 as soon as possible.

According to the group, the Gold Coast voted to be a unitary state on July 12, 1956 while the Western Togoland voted to be in union with Ghana on July 9, 1956 and that the union had not been established till now.

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