The supposed flag of the Western Togoland secessionist group was on Thursday morning, March 5, 2020, seen flying at full mast at the premises of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council where the Volta Regional Minister operates as political head of the region.
As of 8:30 am on Thursday, police officers from the Volta Regional Command were seen frantically pulling down the flag supposed to be the identity of the group.
It is unclear who hoisted the flag and why it was done at the Regional Coordinating Council a day before the celebration of Ghana’s 63rd independence anniversary.
Officials of the Coordinating Council are yet to make any public comment on the matter.
Also known as the Homeland Study Group Foundation, they have been advocating for the secession of a part of Ghana which formed colonial Western Togoland from Ghana as it is currently constituted.
Some members of the group have been arrested on several occasions with some of its members still standing trial.
Last February, 21 members comprising 20 males and a female were rounded up at their training camp in a forest in Kpevedui by soldiers of the 66 Artillery Regiment.
They were later remanded by a circuit court in Accra and charged with participation in the campaign of a prohibited organization and attending a meeting of the organization.
The group first made calls for the secession in May 2019.
Leaders of the group have been training some youth to form the core of police and military activities in the supposed new country after the declaration of independence.
Clamp down on Western Togoland ‘militia group’ – Security analyst to gov’t
A Security Analyst, Colonel Festus Aboagye Rtd. has said that activities of the group, could degenerate into an insurgency if urgent steps are not taken to halt the trend.
He said recent photos on social media that show the group reportedly training some young people as military officers pose a serious security problem in the country and urgent action must be taken by the country’s security agencies to clamp down on them.
According to him, the trend of the group’s actions points to the fact that the group has a well-planned itinerary to execute which may destabilize the country.
Colonel Aboagye called on authorities to take caution from neighboring countries who suffered similar tragedies.
“The idea that this is generating, is becoming serious and bearing in mind how we could end up where other countries are, should give great cause for concern. If any group of persons anywhere can assemble on the sovereign territory of Ghana and conduct training which could be about 8 weeks or more and graduate before national intelligence gets to know, there is any obvious case that there has been intelligence failure here,” he said.
