Government has vowed to deal with the perpetrators of the recent spate of secessionist attacks in the Volta Region.
Speaking in an interview on the issue for the very first time, President Akufo-Addo condemned the acts by the secessionist group who are laying claim of independence within the country.
Expressing his confidence in the country’s security and intelligence agencies he noted they will nip threats posed by these groups in the bud and clamp down their activities.
“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”.
It is noteworthy that prior to his position on the matter, there had been various demands from stakeholders and individuals demanding some actionable plans in the ensuing rift in the Region.
Tamale North MP, Alhassan Suhuyini distinctly noted that it is imperative for President Akufo-Addo to address the nation on the issue of the Volta separatist group trying to declare the Volta Region an independent country.
According to him, the President’s credibility as ECOWAS chairman will be called into question if he does not address the violence that occurred on Friday.
Mr. Suhuyini explained that there are expectations on the President to resolve the Mali coup after heading a meeting as Chair where he promised to ensure the smooth transfer of power in the country.
“This issue in his own backyard can make it impossible for him to have any credibility to deal with the issues in Mali especially if he is not able to deal well with what is happening here.”
Security analyst, Adam Bonaa, equally expressed his chagrin on the president’s aloof disposition stating that the president should have engaged directly with security agencies who are investigating issues on these attacks.
“I have said repeatedly that it looks like the President is not being advised, he’s not being given the full details of what is going on. If for nothing at all, for two, three hours, these guys who [are] purporting to lay a claim to part of our country Ghana, trying to break away, are taking over for three hours and in their own mind, that part of the country was no longer part of Ghana.
“If I were the president of the republic, I would have addressed the nation to assure the security agencies that they have my full backing. But as we speak, how many days on, we haven’t heard the president speak, so no wonder you would not hear the police speak directly to the issue… it’s just ministers, spokespersons who we did not elect but are actually speaking to the issue”.
Commenting on the scanty information being released by security agencies on the matter, he demanded the dismissal of the national security boss dues to his incompetence.
“The national security boss as we speak should have been fired, and I have repeated it, he’s still there and if you continue to run a very flat security architecture like we are doing, Ghana is at war with these people and you still have the national security minister there, who these people know that he’s so docile, probably doesn’t know his work … change him. Bring in someone who could have the full backing of the security sector; we haven’t done that”.
