Leader of the Western-Togoland separatist group, Charles Kwami Kudzordzi, and one Hope Mortey have been declared wanted by the Ghana Police Service.
The group on November declared independence from Ghana.
Addressing the media at a press briefing, IGP James Oppong Buanuh, urged Mr Kudzordzi and Hope Mortey to surrender to the nearest police station.
“The group is led by one Charles Kwami Kudzordzi, alias Papavi, who has been on the run since he purportedly declared independence for the Western Togoland.
“He is currently being pursued by security agencies. He and Hope Mortey are declared wanted and are to report to the nearest Police station. The public is enjoined to volunteer information about their whereabouts.”
The Homeland Study Group Foundation on November 16, 2019, declared its secession from Ghana on their official social media handles.
This was after the group had held a meeting in Ho.
The 85-year-old leader of the group, while addressing his members in the native Ewe language, recounted their struggles to restore the independence of the pre-independence Western Togoland territory, a German protectorate.
The area joined the then Gold Coast to form the newly independent country, Ghana on March 6, 1957, under circumstances he believes were ”illegal”.
With the omission of roads in the Volta Region from the critical roads list in the 2020 budget, Papa Hogbedetor said ” We’ve all witnessed what happened recently when we (Volta Region) were forgotten by the government in its budget. Can a parent forget about their children? We’re not their children, so they have forgotten about us.”
He then went ahead to declare the ’Western Togo Land’ independent saying “from midnight of November 16, 2019, entering into Sunday, November 17, 2019, we’re now Western Togoland state.”
Arrest and Bail
Following the declaration of independence, 17 people were arrested for their alleged connection with a Millita training in the Hohoe municipality of the Volta Region.
The 66 Artillery Regiment based in Ho, the Counter-Terrorism Unit of the Ghana Police Service, the Defence Intelligence (DI) and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service Accra all conducted two separate Counter Insurgency Operations within the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta Region to foil the activities of the Western Togoland Secessionist.
Fifteen out of the 17 members arrested have been granted bail by the police.