The Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has said that, the demand by some part of the Volta Region to become Western Togoland is a figment of imagination because it does not exist and their demand has no legal basis.
Speaking in an interview monitored by the Vaultz, the Vice President made known that, history does not support what they are saying and described their actions as criminal.
“After the plebiscite, there was a majority in favor of joining Ghana. The Mamprusi’s are part of Ghana, they have not expressed interest in going anywhere, as well as the Gonja’s and the Oti. So where is this figment of Western Togoland. It’s a figment because there is no legal basis for those demands. So, it’s criminal and Ghana must come together, we are one country. This is not a political party matter.”
He said, the situation clearly shows that we have some criminals misrepresenting history and engaging in criminal activities.
“What you are seeing, the attacks you are seeing are nothing but criminal activities. And from that point of view all of us should be worried and we will do everything that we can.
“With what is happening with regards to the criminal behavior we are seeing in the Western Togoland in the Volta Region, I think all Ghanaians should be worried and not only me. Because we are a very peaceful nation in West Africa on the global peace index. And we have been independent since 1957, and generally Ghana has not been a place where you would find these sorts of issues coming up.”
Touching on security with regards to what is happening in the Volta Region, Dr. Bawumia commended the security agencies on how they were handling the situation and asked for them to be supported.
“From where I sit, I know that the security agencies are doing a lot, it’s not everything that we can say on air. But I am very confident and comfortable, with the work and the reports that the security are doing. In fact, they have foiled things that could have been worse already. We need to support them more and they will need to double and triple their efforts.”
He further said that, his government has invested a lot into the security services since it came into office and have done quite a lot, both the police and the army in terms of vehicles, amunition and provision of service. He added that, the government has invested in a lot of intelligence, a lot of equipment and are going to have to do more because “it is a live situation that we are dealing with.”
He then said that, Ghanaians needed unity because the issue was not a partisan matter. He asked for unity across all regions, across all tribes, across all religions adding that our democracy is an envy and we, as a country, should not allow a few criminals to jeopardize it.
He, however, pointed out that, the government was not opened to negotiation with criminals because it does not make sense and then described the situation being politicized as unfortunate.
Dr. Bawumia added that, their performance as a government has put them in a better position as far as governance is concerned.