Dr. Archibald Letsa, Volta Region Minister
The Volta Region Minister, Dr. Archibald Letsa, has expressed confidence in the security agencies to conduct thorough investigations to unravel the individuals funding the activities of the ‘separatist’ group in the Volta Region – Homeland Study Group Foundation.
According to him, although no political party has been linked with the activities of the group in the region, the likelihood of some internal and external forces sponsoring the group’s campaign to secede parts of the Volta, Northern and Upper East Regions into an independent state of Western Togoland could not be ruled out.
The regional minister, who was speaking on a local radio station in Ho, maintained that it’s obvious the group could not operate without external assistance since its core largely comprises pensioners.
“Obviously, somebody is backing them because when you see these elderly people they cannot use their pension funds to be doing these kinds of things – printing T-shirts and billboards and planning to declare independence, they cannot be doing it on their own.
“I believe someone must be behind them, whether in this country or outside the country,” Mr Letsa noted.
The founder and chairman of the group, Charles Kormi Kudjordjie, 93, and two others – Martin Asiama Agbenu, 57 and Divine Odonkor, 65 – were arrested and brought before the Ho high court on Thursday, 9th March, 2017, for conspiracy to commit treason.
They were arrested by the Volta Regional police on Monday, 6th and Tuesday, 7th March, 2017, for illegally printing and selling T-shirts that depicted the Volta Region and parts of the Northern and Upper East Regions as an independent state to be called Western Togoland.
The court however, granted them a GH¢50,000 bail each with two sureties each to be justified and adjourned the case to Tuesday, 14 March, 2017.
Dr. Letsa indicated that although the group’s source of funding remains a mystery, there are hints that some political activists are secretly behind it.
Fred Duodu, Ho (freduoo@gmail.com)