Volta secessionists discharged after state drops charges

The nine members of the Homeland Study Group Foundation (HSGF), who are allegedly planning to secede the Volta Region from the rest of Ghana have been discharged.

This was after the state, through a state attorney Winifred Sarpong, a senior state attorney, had informed the court that they have been instructed to withdraw the case.

The three member panel of the Commercial Court presided over by Justice Jerome Nkrumah subsequently struck the case out as withdrawn. Even though three members of the accused persons were still in custody, the court said the discharge affects all of them.

Warning

At the last adjourned date, panel descended heavily on state prosecutors and investigators in the case and warned it would discharge the accused persons if they returned to court to tell them stories.

The panel chaired by Justice Jerome Nkrumah has however warned that, should the state appears in court at the next court date to tell those stories, they would live to regret.

The prosecutor, Mr Fred Awindago, a State Attorney had informed the court that the plan for them to pray for an adjournment to file additional evidence, a similar prayer prosecution made at the previously sitting.

Also, the court was informed that despite granting bail to all nine accused persons including a 85-year-old retired educationist, Kormi Kudzodzi (aka Papavi Hogbedetor), said to be the founder HSGF, they were still in custody.

It was the case of one detective Sergeant Alhaji Ali Ganani, an investigator in case that, even though they have received documents of lands, they realised those properties are at different location and need verification.

According to him, two weeks ago they have sent the document to the Volta Regional Lands Commission as well as in Greater Accra for verification but are yet to get feedback

Facts

According to the facts, as presented by the prosecution, the group calling itself the HSGF planned to secede the Volta Region from Ghana and declare it as an independent country called Western Togoland.

They claim that the Volta Region (Western Togoland) was formerly an independent state before being made to join Ghana in a plebiscite.

Eight of its members were arrested by a combined team of police and military men in a house in Ho while holding a meeting to finalise arrangements to declare the Volta Region an independent state on May 9, 20I9.

When the police intercepted their meeting, they found T-shirts with the inscriptions: “9th May is our day” and “A Citizen of Western Togoland”.

The police also found messages that revealed that Sgt Kwabla, the soldier, had given the group advance messages to hide their weapons due to a pending search by a combined team of the police and the military.