Voltarian chiefs say they are taking President Akufo-Addo on his word to investigate alleged military abuse in the Volta Region.
Some people living in the region accused the military of assaulting them and abusing their rights during the just-ended voter registration exercise.
However, Togbe Adzongaga Amenya Fiti of the Aflao Traditional Area said President Akufo-Addo has promised to set up a committee to look into the matter.
“The president in his own knowledge said he is going to constitute a committee to go into the happenings in the country. We the chiefs are solidly behind the president’s action he is going to take,” Togbe Amenya Fiti said.
“People of Volta deserve better”
The chiefs deny allegations that they are doing the bidding of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). They defended their case during a visit by the chief of the Ewe community in Lapla, a suburb of Bongase in the Bono Region, to petition them with regard to recent happenings in their community.
Togbe Afede XIV, the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State, said the people of Volta deserve better from government appointees in the region.
He said, “The people of Volta Region deserve better from those who call themselves our political leaders and who serve as our representation in government. Taking bootlicking to this extent through lies just to gain favour and doing so against your own people is quite an abomination.
“Truth has become a very scarce commodity in our politics, sadly, and these kinds of lies deny victims of bad politics the justice they deserve,” he said.
Alleged abuse
Some people residing in the Volta Region claim they were brutalised by the military and other security agencies during the voter registration exercise. They have made repeat allegations against the military, saying that they disenfranchised certain residents, alleging that they were from Togo.
Their allegations were supported by prominent figures in the opposition NDC, the leading political party in the region. NDC MPs and Volta party members accused the government of using military troops to scare residents away from registering.
The party provided footage of military men stationed at various checkpoints and registration centres checking applicants’ nationality.
However, the government has denied the claims. The Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, insisted the soldiers were only there to secure movements in and out of border towns.
E A Alanore
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