The president of the National House of Chiefs, Togbe Afede XIV is calling for the setting up of a presidential commission to help address the ensuing threats of secession in the Volta Region.
Speaking on The Point of View on Monday, he said there is the need for the past incidents of violence and chaos that have characterized the activities of the alleged secessionists to be investigated while a forum is created to listen to the concerns of the identifiable secessionist groups.
“There is an important need for this to be investigated. Whether by some partisan commission, some parliamentary committee or presidential commission, preferably a joint Volta House of Chiefs and government kind of body to investigate so that we have some really transparent investigation into what exactly is happening,” he said.
Togbe Afede said chiefs and residents of the Volta Region are unhappy about the activities of the secessionist groups and are anticipating a quick resolution that will ensure that peace is guaranteed in the region.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the chiefs are not happy and I know majority of the people are not happy about violence in the Volta Region. We want to contribute to the peace of this country. It is very important that these things are investigated, so we can know what exactly is happening,” he said.
Some persons believed to be members of secessionist groups attacked the State Transport Corporation (STC) in September 2020, beating up drivers and setting ablaze some buses.
Before that incident, two police stations were attacked with their weapons stolen while some major roads linking the Greater Accra Region to the Volta Region were blocked as part of violent activities demanding secession from Ghana.
Although some arrests have been made, there have been calls for a permanent resolution of the matter.
A group, the Homeland Study Group Foundation, which is the only identifiable group campaigning for secession recently denied knowledge and involvement in any of the violent activities.
But according to Togbe Afede, urgent steps must be taken to permanently address the issue especially through a commission so that “for those who are doing those things and others who have become more identified like the Homeland Study Group, they can come up with their grievances so that that commission can promote dialogue.”
“It is better for us to do it that way than to think that resorting to war can solve it… We must not allow this thing to go beyond what we have seen. That commission is very important and a commission that opens its doors and listens to what grievances people have can be very helpful,” he said.
“We are against succession, we are against violence, we are for peace. Let’s begin to talk. And let’s do that in a transparent manner that reassures everybody because people are confused,” he added.
Source:Fiilafmonline/CitiNews
