Chiefs petitions Kufuor against border closure

Accra, Dec. 22, GNA - The Volta Region House of Chiefs has appealed to President John Agyekum Kufuor to stop the intended closure of the Ghana-Togo border during the December 28 Presidential Election runoff saying the action would not augur well for a united nation.

In a statement signed by Togbe Afede XIV and Nana Soglo Alloh IV, president and vice president, respectively of the Volta Region House of Chiefs, the Chiefs recalled that their protest against the closure of the border for the December 7 general election was totally ignored.

The Chiefs noted that although the government had announced that Ghana's borders would remain open during the December 7 elections, the Ghana-Togo border was closed on December 5 2008.

It said the closure denied many Ghanaians, especially those who either lived across the border or were on short visits, the opportunity to exercise their franchise during the December 7 elections.

The Chiefs said over the past week, they had been bombarded with calls from a section of the population, expressing concern that the Ghana-Togo border might be closed again before Sunday's presidential election runoff.

The Chiefs stressed that as citizens and traditional Leaders, they were concerned about the potential, present and future ramifications of the closure.