Ghana’s Secessionist Group Fires Gunshots, Burns Buses And State Transport Terminal

Some persons suspected to be members of Ghana’s separatist group called the Homeland Study Group Foundation (HSGF) campaigning for the secession of some parts of Ghana into an independent “Western Togoland” state have burnt down a state transport terminal and some vehicles in the Volta Region of Ghana.

The assailants who fired gun shots also attacked some drivers who were spending the night in the bus terminal.

According to local reports, several drivers are traumatized after the attackers pointed guns at them to go down on their knees.

Some of the drivers have sustained injuries.

Security personnel made up of police and the military have since visited the yard and secured the place.

The attackers reportedly did not give a reason for their action but one of the drivers said he saw a flag similar to what the secessionist campaigners have been carrying around as Western Togolanders.

The management of the Intercity STC in Ho has temporarily halted operations after the incident.

The HSGF has been campaigning for the secession of some parts of Ghana into an independent “Western Togoland” state. The group, based in the Volta Region, was founded in 1994 by Charles Kormi Kudzordzi Papavi as a platform to discuss the political, civil and human rights of the people of “Western Togoland.”

In 2019, Papavi led the group to declare independence from Ghana at a public gathering in Ho, Volta Region. He recounted their struggles to restore the independence of pre-independence Western Togoland territory, then a German protectorate, which in his view was ‘illegally’ made part of Ghana.

Last Friday, the group blocked all major roads at entry points into the Volta Region. They also abducted three police officers. The incident led to the death of one person and the arrest of 31 members of the group.

The activities of the group gained momentum in 2019 after a budget presentation by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta omitted roads in the Volta Region. The Finance Minister went back to parliament the next day to correct the omission.

However, the HSGF capitalized on it as a demonstration of the Government of Ghana’s neglect for the region. “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,” Papavi, 80, said at the supposed independence declaration of the HSGF.

Before the group’s independence declaration, its members held regular cell meetings to educate residents of the Volta region about the history of the “Western Togoland.” They occasionally held market and community campaigns seeking to drum home their message.