Oct 06, 2020

Western Togoland: Leader of HSGF Strongly Condemns Violence on All Sides and Recalls Ghanaian Authorities for Peace Talks


Today [6 October 2020], the leader of the Homeland Study Group Foundation (HSGF), Mr Charles Kwame Kudzordzithe, published a video on Facebook sending a strong message to Ghanian authorities as well as to the people of Western Togoland. Reacting to the recent wave of violence in the region, Mr Kudzordzi emphatically referred to the statement published by UNPO on 29 September 2020 and reinforced that the HSGF has always been a nonviolent organisation and will never change. "I am advising strongly that our people and the government of Ghana should take the letter published online by the UNPO seriously and abide by it". Mr Kudzordzi also took the opportunity to remind authorities that his letters to the Speaker of the Parliament and to the President calling for peaceful dialogues have been systematically ignored.

 

Below is a transcription of the statement by Charles Kwame Kudzordzi

"Brothers and sisters, ladies and gentleman, elders of Western Togoland, my homeland and your homeland.

It has become an issue for me to speak to you today.

It has been brought to my attention that I am wanted here and there, throughout the land.

I remember I have had had peaceful meetings, and at the end of one[of those meetings] I was informed that several soldiers heavily armed were chasing after my name. Who wants to live like that?

I am wanted live or dead.

I have made myself available to the police, to security agencies on several occasions.

Every time they wanted me I presented myself.

But this time I don’t know, guns were heard. Young people with guns, looking for an 85-year old man.

It has come to my attention also that over a week or two ago there were blocking of roads, demonstrations,  a sort of mayhem, on the land. The HSGF is a peaceful group, a peace-loving group, a peace-making group, which started in 1994.

The group has never been arrested and taken to court and found guilty. Never. We have made this clear to the whole world that the group - UNPO - that is helping us with international affairs, they investigated and found us to be peace-loving indeed.

So when this sort of thing happens in the country and we are being labeled [...], this group from Europe wrote a post online telling the whole world that the HSGF is not like that. Yes, it is true, we are not.

I am advising strongly that our people and the government of Ghana should take the letter published online by the UNPO seriously and abide by it.

I have on two occasions written to the Government of Ghana, the President, offering to sit down with us and have this matter discussed at a roundtable conference. No attention has been paid to the letter. I wrote again to Parliament, to the Speaker. The place where our parliament members are. They did not mind the letter or me. And now all this sort of things are happening.

We have to keep away from it, we are not like that and for all of you, emphatically, Ghana should intensify its level of investigation - not firing people, harming people, locking people up, no - investigate. We, the HSGF, founded in 1994, are not violent. We are not.

Thank you."