The secessionists are sponsored by parties in Lome, Accra and Diaspora - Dr. Theo Acheampong alleges

Dr. Theo Acheampong, a Senior Fellow of IMANI Africa, has alleged that the activities of the alleged secessionists who took over a police station in the Volta Region recently are funded by a wider international network.

According to him, the group will continue to press on with their actions until certain core issues are addressed.

“.......my intelligence sources in Accra [indicated] that they [secessionists] are likely being funded by vested groups on both sides, not political parties, but I mean in Lome, and also in Accra and in the Diaspora,” Dr Acheampong alleged on Joy FM’s Newsfile on Saturday.

He suggested that the perpetrators should be prosecuted, thus supporting the call by the chiefs and people of the Volta Region, despite admitting that the matter needs a multifaceted approach.

“I would like to see the Regional House of Chiefs actually being much more involved in the discourse, I would like to see the Council of State being much more involved in the discourse and I really like to see some sort of mediation talks on both sides,” Dr. Acheampong noted. “The sovereignty of Ghana must remain intact because the demarcation of the Togoland hosts other ethnic groups aside from the [Ewe]”.

Dr. Acheampong, a political risk analyst, stated further that the secessionist attacks should not come as a surprise to any Ghanaian because the underpinnings started in August 2016.

He then advised the Government of Ghana to delve deeply into the matter and find out how and where the secessionist attacks started in the Volta Region.

“I believe the solution isn’t really a military kind…If we only deal with the military side of things, mark my words, we will be down there in a couple of years discussing the same issues with the group launching more daring attacks,” Dr Acheampong said.

He added that there should be public education to disabuse the minds of people who think the secessionists have legitimate reasons because “people have been poisoned to believe that the supposed Western Togoland has never been a part of Ghana”.