Togbe Afede XIV
The President of the National House of Chiefs, Togbe Afede XIV has for the first time made a public admission of a fact that stokes tribal confusion in the country whenever it comes up, that “Ewes in Togo and Benin are not Ghanaians.”
However, he does not believe that such Ewes partake in Ghana’s elections.
According to Togbe Afede who is also the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli state, it was a basic fact that needs not be contested or create any tension. He said “We know all these… We know that Ewes live in Togo and Benin who are not Ghanaians.”
However, it was insulting to be reminded about it, as though the Chiefs and people in the Volta region were not aware of it.
Togbe Afede made the observation at his Palace in Ho, last Sunday when Voltarians from the Banda area in the Bono Region met him and other Chiefs in the region to narrate allegations of intimidation during the just ended voter registration exercise.
Togbe Afede expressed dissatisfaction of the conduct of political leaders from the Volta region also stressed that “We know Togolese are not entitled to vote in Ghana,” including Ewes from Togo and Benin and “so to be reminded about this basic fact was very insulting and very embarrassing.”
The Comments of the eminent Chief corroborates the sentiments of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) that Ewes in Togo and other nationals of the West African Sub region always participate in Ghana’s elections with the help of the opposition New Democratic Congress, (NDC) whose strong-hold, the Volta Region shares border with Togo.
The slightest mention of these sentiments is received with misconstrued interpretation to suggest that Voltarians are ‘not Ghanaians, Foreigners or Aliens’; a typical example was the comments of Kobina Tahir Hammond, MP for Adansi North a few weeks ago.
Ghanaian or Non-Ghanaian
Daily Guide’s investigation along the border communities in the Volta region indicates that the nature of the boundary between Ghana and Togo is such that some communities, roads, compounds and families’ criss-crosses both sides, making the boundary full of unapproved routes.
Hence, it is difficult to sometimes tell who is Ghanaian from who is not. The inter-relation facilitates a dual national lifestyle in a way that sees Ghanaian border residents buy from Togo to sell in Ghana since, Togo’s free port policy make their goods cheaper.
Togolese and other West Africans prefer Ghanaian documentation to benefit from Health Insurance, Free Basic and Senior High School, Health care delivery among others.
Whereas the Togolese have had a national identification card for years, Ghana only had one in 2020. To benefit from the Ghana side, the Togolese, despite having their national ID cards; with the help of their friends and relations secure voters and health insurance cards from Ghana to benefit from Ghana’s social services.
It is this phenomenon that NPP claims have been exploited by the opposition NDC who allegedly mobilised Ewes in Togo and beyond to come partake in Ghana’s election by facilitating their registration for health insurance cards and voter cards to vote, especially in the 2012 elections. A good number of border residents have corroborated these claims severally, although majority who are sympathetic to the NDC deny it.
Operation Eagle Eye and Afede’s Disbelief
It is for this reason that the NPP prior to the 2016 elections, instituted operation eagle eye, apparently to prevent Ewes who they suspected were non-Ghanaians to partake in the 2016 elections. This initiative was revisited in the just ended 2020 voters’ registration exercise in a higher scale. The fallouts however were the hue and cry that Voltarians were being prevented from registration to votes.
Despite several reports in the media from 2012 till date about the clandestine mobilisation of foreigners to vote in Ghana, the President of the National House of Chiefs, Togbe Afede finds the claims to be ridiculous.
Speaking at his Palace he said he was shocked to hear; when he led Chiefs from the region to meet the President last Friday that “Togolese were historically brought into the Volta region three weeks ahead of registration and voting, where will they reside and who will take care of them for three weeks just to exercise one vote.”
He led a delegation from the Volta Regional House of Chiefs to verify claims of intimidation during the Volta Registration exercise, however it was interesting to note that although the eminent Chief and his colleagues admit Ewes in Togo and beyond were not Ghanaians and did not qualify to vote in Ghana, there was no delegation to also investigate that claim except to dismiss it as shocking.
Furthermore, an attempt by government appointees in the current NPP government to mention it, was considered by the Chiefs as insulting and embarrassing.
From Fred Duodu, Ho (k.duodu@yahoo.com)