Negotiate with secessionists – Independent presidential aspirant tells govt

An independent presidential aspirant, Dr Tom Asisseh, has blamed the government over secessionist sentiments in the Volta Region. He said the government should have negotiated with the group when the issue first emerged, not to have sent military men to tackle them. He told TV3’s Joseph Armstrong in an interview on Sunday, October 4 that “the government should meet them and ask them what they want. The government will have to look at it”. He added: “I also blame the government because you don’t just carry army or military to those places but call them and say look this is Ghana and we are going to apportion whatever is accrued to every region.” A total of 60 persons have so far been arrested in connection with recent disturbances in parts of the Volta Region. The disturbances were caused by suspected members Western Togoland secessionist group. Fifty-four of these suspects have been remanded in custody as government intensifies security operations in the Region to bring the insurgency under control. A Deputy Information Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide, made known at a press briefing in Ho following a series of stakeholder engagements by a high-powered government delegation led by the National Security Minister, Albert Kan Dapaah. According to him, more security personnel have been deployed across both Volta and Oti regions to forestall recurrence of the disturbances. The deputy minister further reiterated government’s position to deal with the situation as purely criminal and would not dialogue with the supposed secessionists as being suggested by some security analysts. Meanwhile, the Volta Region Minister, Dr Archibald Letsa, has vehement denied allegations of his connection with the secessionist group and threatened to take legal action against persons behind what he described as malicious attempt to dent his reputation. He thus tasked the media to be circumspect in their reportage in order not to jeopardise the security of the region. By Laud Nartey|editors.3news.com|Ghana