The terrorists are at Ghana’s door steps. They are closing in on her. In fact, the IGP or so has said that they have infiltrated Ghana and have even established observatory cells and incubators. To keep them at bay is a task all Ghanaians must undertake. In order to do this successfully Ghanaians have been urged to be citizens and not spectators. They are to say something if they see something. I have seen the Togoland Question or Problem as a potential source of violence and conflict and I have summoned courage to volunteer to talk or say something about it.
The British Togoland Question or Problem started when Britain was appointed the Mandated and later Administering Authority of British Togoland. It was intensified during the May 1956 Togoland Plebiscite and reached its height when Togoland was forcibly integrated with Ghana in March 1957. There is an urgent need to talk about this Question in order to find a long-lasting amicable solution to it
WHAT IS THERE TO TALK ABOUT?
Successive governments in the Gold Coast and Ghana and their agents have deliberately or inadvertently succeeded in muddling up Trans-Volta/Togoland (TVT), Volta Region (VR), Western Togoland and British Togoland (BT). There is total confusion about the identity and boundary limits of these areas. They have also succeeded in making the Togoland problem look like Ewe issue. There is need to talk about this in order to correct and straighten up issues
In 1922/23 the British inappropriately divided British Togoland into Northern and Southern Togoland, mainly on tribal lines, and wrongly merged them with the Northern Territories and the Eastern Province of the Gold Coast respectively. There is need to talk about this
In 1952 the UN Visiting Mission reported that the two Togolands desired to attain independence under a unified Togoland. The UN accepted this report and termed this desire “The Manifest aspiration” of the people of Togoland. In order to implement this desire the UN passed Resolution 555 inviting France and Britain to establish a Joint Council on Togoland Affairs. When France and Britain hesitated the UN passed additional resolutions 652, 750 and 860 to urge the Administering Authorities to establish the Joint Council. Still France and Britain refused to obey the UN thus quashing the Manifest aspirations of the Togolands. The UN was powerless in dealing with them because they were very powerful and influential members of the UN, Trusteeship Council and veto wielding members of the Security Council. There is an urgent need to question and talk about this intransigent attitude of France and Britain.
In 1954 the British notified the UN that it would not be able to administer British Togoland as a trust territory when her colony the Gold Coast became independent. Of course, this was a pretence by Britain; a very clever and crafty way to pressurize the UN to deliver Togoland to the Gold Coast on a silver platter. At any rate, a new administering authority should have been selected for Togoland based solely on Articles 81 and 82 of the UN Charter and there was no apparent need to subject this to a plebiscite. We must talk about this as well.
In 1955 the UN sent another Visiting Mission to the Togolands. The Mission recommended, inter alia, that a plebiscite should be conducted to determine whether the people of British Togoland would integrate their territory with independent Gold Coast or remain under trusteeship pending the determination of
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their political future. The UN rejected the integration option and replaced it with the union option. Subsequently, the UN ordered a plebiscite to be conducted under UN Resolution 944(X). The Plebiscite was organized and administered by biased Britain and supervised by a weak UN Plebiscite Commissioner
The Plebiscite was considered by many as inappropriate and premature because the decision for Togoland to unite with independent Gold Coast should have been left to an independent, sovereign Togoland to take; that the plebiscite lacked political level playing field because the British who administered and organized the plebiscite were openly and unashamedly biased in favour of Togoland’s integration with the Gold Coast and therefore manipulated the process, procedure and conduct of the plebiscite to achieve the integration agenda. Also Togoland was heavily tied to the Gold Coast economically, politically and socially and this was bound to affect free expression and freedom of choice. There was a strong need to give Togoland a breather from the Gold Coast in order to give her a degree of self-confidence and freedom; that the Gold Coast, the supposed partner in the proposed union did not participate in the plebiscite to determine whether they agreed with the union idea. This was a fatal political error; that the people of Togoland were not given the opportunity to decide whether they would unite with their kinsmen in French Togoland in order to fulfil their manifest aspiration and that the results of the plebiscite were pre-determined and were a foregone conclusion. It is quite clear that the plebiscite instead of solving a problem rather created a lot more problems. This must be talked about
Despite the numerous concerns and problems created by the May, 1956 Togoland Plebiscite, the UN passed Resolution 1044(XI) to accept the results of the plebiscite and expressed approval for the Union, note not integration. The Resolution invited Britain to take such necessary steps to bring about the Union. Instead of Britain taking necessary steps to bring about the Union she rather, on a pretext of quelling a rebellion in Togoland, declared partial curfew, invaded, occupied and forcibly integrated Togoland with Ghana in March 1957. This was injudicious, wrong and unjust to the people of Togoland. This act of aggression, betrayal and infamy was not only a constitutional and political blunder or error but it also deprived the people of Togoland of their constitutional and political rights, security and safeguard. There is need to talk about this with a view to rectifying the situation.
The Trusteeship Council Resolution 1496 which authorized the UN General Assembly to grant self- government to Togoland together with independent Gold Coast was inconsiderate, hasty and premature. For instance, Articles 73(b) and 76(b) of the UN Charter and many provisions of the 1946 Trusteeship Agreement on British Togoland were mostly ignored by Britain and had not been implemented to enable Togoland become independent so why impose independence on Togoland that was not prepared for independence? This is another point to talk about
The British Togoland Question or Problem is unfortunately real but Britain and Ghana do not want to admit that. It lingers on despite all attempts by Ghana to suppress it. The principal architect of the problem was/is Britain and her collaborators in the UN. At first Ghana was just an accomplice but now she is fully converted and involved after having tasted the power and sweetness of imperialism.
Sir Charles Noble Arden-Clarke, the last Governor of the Gold Coast, confirmed and confessed to the Gold Coast imperialism over British Togoland thus: “In the case of Togoland there seemed to be quite a lot of Gold Coast imperialism. I am glad to say that Gold Coast imperialism won the day” This confession or confirmation came straight from the horse’s own mouth and it should have ended all doubts and arguments! It is highly regrettable and extremely sad that this Gold Coast imperialism over Togoland took
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place right under the nose of the UN and at a time that the principle of self-determination, freedom and democracy were held in high esteem!
Since independence Ghana has been in denial about the Togoland Question. Successive governments of Ghana have used every available tactic and means, fair or foul, violence and subterfuge, divide and rule, detention without trial, harassment and intimidation to keep British Togoland as part of Ghana. One thing is certain: so long as people live or remain in British Togoland so long will the struggle for justice and fairness continue!!
It is time for the UN and International Community to help Ghana dismantle this unwarranted Gold Coast imperialism and give justice to the people of British Togoland, especially because the UN Charter is seriously opposed to any form of imperialism. Ghana and Britain have made the Togoland problem needlessly intractable and protracted. However, caution, patience and circumspection are needed to dismantle the Gold Coast imperialism over Togoland.
The crux of the matter is that on 9 May 1956 the people of British Togoland voted for Union with independent Gold Coast (Ghana). They never voted for forcible integration. Justice and fairness demand that the Union the people of Togoland voted for must be accepted, respected and established. An urgent appeal goes to the UN and the International Community to hasten to install that Union, expressly stated in UN Resolution 1044(XI), without any further delay. But the safest and surest way to install the union is to give and take; to use dialogue, negotiation, diplomacy and due process. There should be no place for decadent methods like suppression, violence, impunity and intolerance. We need peace and stability in Ghana to be able to ward off the terrorists.
The writer is a former MP for Hohoe South
BY KOSI KEDEM
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