Western Togoland secessionists will be used to disrupt Dec polls – Mahama cites ‘rumours’

The flagbearer for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has said that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo may be scheming to use the issue of the Western Togoland secessionist to disrupt the upcoming elections.

According to the former President, who cited rumours picked up by his campaign team, the ‘lack of seriousness’ that Akufo-Addo government has shown about the issue lends credence to that rumour.

"The impunity at which these people are doing these things if the government was serious, I don't think it will continue. So, the rumour around is that this is a dress rehearsal, they will do a few more of these attacks and the real deal is on election day.

“On election day, they will bring these Western Togolanders that the government controls and disrupt things in the Volta Region and blame it on secessionist, that is the rumour going around. This is the first time the President is even talking about this issue. As the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, you need to protect your people and we are not even seeing any seriousness," he said during an interview on Woezor TV.

He also said: “I have been a Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces before and worked with these same security services. I know that intelligence is very key. This Homeland study thing was there during my time as President and yet we had people who infiltrated them and knew what they were up to. Now they are becoming bold and the President must take bold actions. It looks like the whole government is not serious about this, no senior person has gone to the area, I saw the Minister for National Security in Kumasi with the President commissioning a compost plant instead of being there to give confidence."

Members of the Homeland Study Group Foundation (HSGF) on Friday, September 25, 2020, blocked major entries into the Volta Region, bringing vehicular traffic in Tefle, Tsopoli and Juapong to a halt.

The group burnt vehicle tyres and took control of two police stations, freeing suspects and taking weapons from the armoury.

Meanwhile, President Nana Akufo-Addo has vowed to deal with the secessionists.

“It is just a handful of people – these secessionists. We will deal with them. I have no doubt about it but there is no value for this country if I start making hysterical statements. I trust the security agencies, the armed forces, the police, I trust their leadership and intelligence agencies and I know they are all working very hard to make sure that this matter is dealt with as quickly as possible,” the President said.