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Western Togoland Lawsuits – OccupyGhana®️ asks
(1) Address legitimate concerns
(2) Non-negotiation of national territories, and
(3) Prosecution of criminality
OccupyGhana®️ notes with great concern the emergence of a separatist or secessionist group made up of people who identify themselves as ‘West Togolanders’ in Ghana. We acknowledge the Government’s initial response in addressing and containing the matter. However, we must not allow ourselves to be carried away by a false sense of security, especially when elections are approaching.
With this statement, we ask the Government to determine and address any legitimate demands that may be addressed, in the spirit of our shared nationality. However, it must be clear to all that our nationality and the territories of this nation are not negotiable. And people who have broken the law must stand up to the law.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
The legislative history that led to British Togo becoming part of Ghana is incontestable. It begins from the British invasion of World War I in August 1914 (launched from the Gold Coast) of the western part of the then German colony of Togoland, the formal annexation in 1916, the Franco-British Declaration of 1919 (as amended by the 1929 Protocol), the 1922 League of Nations recognition of the British Mandate and the United Nations Togoland Trusteeship Agreement of 1946. Also includes the Gold Coast Order in Council (Constitution) of 1954, Resolution 944 (X) of the UN General Assembly of 1955, the Plebiscite of 1956, Resolution 1044 (XI) of the UN General Assembly of 1956, the Ghana Independence Act of 1957 and the March 6 Charter of 1957 from Allan Noble, UK Foreign Secretary to the UN Secretary General.
In particular, section 1 of the Ghana Independence Act of 1957 (the legislation by which Great Britain granted independence) identified the new independent territory as’ the Gold Coast as defined in and for the purposes of the Order in Council of the (Constitution) of the Gold Coast, 1954. Section 1 (1) of this Council Order defined ‘the Gold Coast’ as’ the Gold Coast Colony, Ashanti and the Northern Gold Coast Territories; and for the purposes of this Order, references to Gold Coast shall be construed to include Togoland under the United Kingdom Trusteeship. ‘
Having adopted this inclusive definition of ‘the Gold Coast’, the Independence Law provided that ‘Gold Coast … SHALL as of [6 March 1957] TOGETHER THEY ARE part of Her Majesty’s Dominions under the name of Ghana, ‘and that’ from [6 March 1957]Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom shall not be responsible for the Government of Ghana or any part of it. ‘ Therefore, it is indisputable that the union, the independence and the name change occurred under the same law, on the same date, at the same time and by the same action. Therefore, it is absolutely obvious that the claim that some other document or additional action was required to unite the then British Togoland with the rest of the Gold Coast, is palpably unfounded and deeply false.
This is the legislative basis of the union under which Ghana emerged as a beautiful amalgam of several proud nations and peoples who came together in different circumstances. But of all the nations and peoples that became Ghana, only the people of former British Togoland (comprising the districts of Mamprusi, Dagomba, Gonja, Buem-Krachi, Ho, and Kpandu) who were given a choice, say , a vote. , in the decision to be part or not of this great nation. They exercised this choice in the 1956 Plebiscite, which according to Resolution 1044 of the UN General Assembly was held “in an atmosphere of freedom, impartiality and justice”, when a majority voted in favor of joining the then Gold Coast. That union was achieved on March 6, 1957 in accordance with the Ghana Independence Act of 1957. No one can undo what was done and how we became one nation.
ONE NATION, ONE PEOPLE …
