The flagbearer for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) John Mahama says President Akufo-Addo has not taken the issues concerning the Western Togoland group serious.
Mahama speaking in an interview said these violent behaviours spell doom for Ghana and it is the duty of the President to make sure it ceases.
He called on President Akufo-Addo to be bold and deal with the issue because he has exhibited a lack of seriousness since the matter surfaced.
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"I have been a Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces before and worked with these same security services. I know that intelligence is very key. This Homeland study thing was there during my time as President and yet we had people who infiltrated them and knew what they were up to. Now they are becoming bold and the President must take bold actions. It looks like the whole government is not serious about this, no senior person has gone to the area, I saw the Minister for National Security in Kumasi with the President commissioning a compost plant instead of being there to give confidence."
Mahama then threw in the rumour that this group will be used by the government to disrupt December 7 polls in the Volta Region.
"The impunity at which these people are doing these things if the government was serious I don't think it will continue. So the rumour around is that this is a dress rehearsal, they will do a few more of these attacks and the real deal is on election day. On election day they will bring these Western Togolanders that the government controls and disrupt things in the Volta Region and blame it on secessionist, that is the rumour going around. This is the first time the President is even talking about this issue. As the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, you need to protect your people and we are not even seeing any seriousness"
President Akufo-Addo on September 30, 2020, spoke for the first time on the issue.
He said he trusts in the ability of the country’s security and intelligence agencies to stop such threats and clamp down on activities of the secessionists.
“It is just a handful of people; these secessionists. We will deal with them. I have no doubt about it but there is no value for this country if I start making hysterical statements. I trust the security agencies, the armed forces, the police, I trust their leadership and intelligence agencies and I know they are all working very hard to make sure that this matter is dealt with as quickly as possibleâ€.
In its most recent act of violence, Members of the Homeland Study Foundation on Tuesday, September 29, 2020, attacked the State Transport Corporation (STC) in the Volta Regional capital, Ho, and set ablaze one of its buses.
The members also on Friday, September 25, 2020, also blocked major entries into the Volta Region.
This action left travellers to and from the Volta Region, particularly areas such as Tefle, Tsopoli and Juapong stranded.
The group burnt vehicle tyres and took control of two police stations, freeing suspects and taking weapons from the armoury.
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