Leader of the Western Togoland Separatist Charles Kormi Kudzordz says he won’t be happy with God if he is not able to achieve his aim of winning the Independence of the Volta Region from Ghana before he dies.
According to him, it’s only when his dream of winning the independence of the Volta Region from Ghana will he know that truth exists in the world.
“If my heavenly father does not help me to see this happen, then he didn’t do anything good to me at all. If I go there I will kneel down and weep on his thighs. I must see this then I will know that what we call the truth is existing in the world,” he told Accra-based TV3 in an interview.
Charles Kormi Kudzordze noted that he has been charged with belonging to a prohibited group; a charge he believes is problematic because no group in the country is ever prohibited.
“This charge now that I belong to a prohibited group, I am 88 years and I have never seen any group or organization which is prohibited by the government. Political Parties are there, groups are there, they are in papers, they are in the news. What is the name of the prohibited organization? I’m not told of any name. If I belong to a group that is prohibited in Ghana I should know you belong to group D, group B all this and that.”
Western Togoland
The territory of Western Togoland was first colonized by Germany in 1884 and incorporated into the Togoland colony. After Germany’s defeat during the First World War, the colony of Togoland was divided between France and Britain as protectorates. The western part of Togoland became part of Britain’s Gold Coast colony, which became independent in 1957 to form modern-day Ghana. Togo gained independence from France in 1960.
Western Togoland is a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO). Four million people live in the region. In terms of language and culture, Western Togoland, especially the Volta region, has more in common with Togo. Locals in the region say they feel underrepresented by Ghanaian authorities.
A previous unsuccessful attempt to declare Western Togoland independent from Ghana took place in 2017. In March 2020, around 80 members of the separatist group were detained for protesting the arrest of seven leaders of the Homeland Study Group Foundation. The charges were later dropped.