Freedom Fighting stems from the United Nations Conventions called Right to Freedom of Self Determination and Freedom of Association. These conventions were signed by almost all member countries including Ghana. Since a right is not a privilege, it is inalienable, hence not subject to any country’s political option to toy with. But who in the UN polices the obligation of nations to respect these conventions? One would rightly say it’s the UN Human Rights Council, which replaced the problematic UN Commission on Human Rights. Does it have the power to force member countries to respect these conventions?
The answer is No.
All it does is collect reports on victims of the abuses by member countries, investigate those allegations and if true, write a report to the UN, with directives to the non-compliance member nation(s), which directive may include demanding a release of the affected victims or cessation of harassment against them.
In almost all cases, as is the case with the Western Togoland Freedom Fighters in Ghana’s detention, the offending member country closes its eyes to the UN requests, since the Council lacks enforcement power.
So, if UN conventions are unenforceable and any member country can flout them at will, then what purpose do they serve?
Every Freedom Fighting has a historical context. And it is the responsibility of those involved to educate people about that context. Some will agree with them, and some will lend their support. Others, for reasons best known to them, may reject their reason for their freedom objective.
In the case of Western Togoland, Ghana has made a relentless effort to destroy its records and did do so, to the extent of even abolishing history courses in basic and second cycle schools.
But God being so good some Western Togolanders have excellent resources in their archives, and these combined with UN and other international archives, gave a complete history of Western Togoland with its traceable original boundary’s geographic coordinates.
From the time of the late Mr Kɔmi Kudzɔdzi (aka Papavi Hogbedetɔ) the history of Western Togoland has been made known to many. Many of us got education from his radio presentations, videos and audios, together with written records. From Radio and TV interviews with different Ghanaian media houses, together with publications, one would think that the history of Western Togoland would not be lost to Ghanaians, particularly with high-profile Ghanaian politicians telling the whole world the INSEPARABLE TRUTH…that Western Togolanders are NOT GHANAIANS. Unfortunately, some self-proclaimed security experts and academics with little knowledge of the history of Western Togoland also embarked on disinformation and misinformation propaganda to confuse the public. Hence public opinion is divided. And the self-serving opinions of assimilated Western Togolanders in Gold Coast/Ghana: the satisfied slaves that forgot their roots, are not helping either. But the TRUTH is INDIVISIBLE and those who are eager to ascertain the truth will always get it.
Ghana’s 1992 constitution enjoins the regulatory authorities to bring all laws in their statute books in line with the constitution. I cannot tell if they did so, for the very tribalistic and the most human rights abusive law enacted by Acheampong’s military junta, the Supreme Military Council (SMC1) Decree prohibiting freedom of association and self-determination of only Western Togolanders, against the UN conventions signed by Ghana, those repulsive dictatorial decrees are still in the statute books of Ghana in 2023, and all Western Togoland Freedom Fighters have been charged and being convicted by Justice Mary Ekue Yanzuh under such a tribalistic and obsolete law with such force of malice!
To the utter surprise of this writer, none of the defence lawyers involved with these cases had been willing to raise constitutional challenges to the charges under these decrees. One lawyer indicated he didn’t because it’s in the statute book and that they have not been repealed, but wouldn’t answer the question of responsibility for the failure to do so, based on the constitutional provision to bring all old statutory laws at par with the constitution. That failure alone should have been a good defence to use to challenge the responsible body to discharge the charges since people should never be victims of somebody’s negligence. Why the Learned Team of Defence Lawyers didn’t see the weight of logic in this defence, I cannot explain as a layperson. But it does make sense to my logical and scientific brain. Somebody failed to do his work. Why should I suffer for that failure? Moreover, in advanced legal jurisdictions, a statute doesn’t have to be repealed before a constitutional challenge is raised against it. It is often the successful constitutional challenges that result in repealing them anyway. The Constitution supersedes EVERY LAW. So if the legal team can convince the court that a statute runs contrary to the constitution, it has to be thrown away and the case dismissed. It appears some legal jurisdictions have light years of catching up to do.
So with that negligence of duty, the prosecution and Justice Mary Ekue Yanzuh took an undue and unfair advantage to maliciously convict people who were exercising their rights to self-determination and association. As people living within the rule of UN member countries, are they excluded from benefitting from UN conventions? The argument that some of the defendants vandalized police stations and stole weapons was very disingenuous. Complete disinformation and misinformation propaganda, for they failed to state why. People were demonstrating with roadblocks (never the first in Ghana). They were unarmed. Rather than using professionalism to persuade them to stop, what did the police do? They started spraying them with bullets like animals, killing some and dangerously wounding others. In the case of Battor-Aveyime, they put their bravery to self-defence by seizing the weapons so they would not be used to kill and maim them anymore. See some of the gory details below. Tell me honestly, if it were you what would you do if you had such bravery? This part of the story is hidden from the narratives so that the public has been presented with a ONE-SIDED VIEW, which makes it deliberate disinformation and misinformation propaganda, tools governments and their security forces use frequently to cover up their misdeeds.
Unfortunately, this aspect of the truth never came up in the trials of the detainees and I am at a loss as to why not.
But the conduct of Justice Mary Ekue Yanzuh leaves much to be desired. In some of her convictions, even if the prosecution could not prove its case beyond reasonable doubt against some of the defendants, she would use her perogative as a judge to convict them. And convict them she did, with sentencing over and above what the tribalistic and unconstitutional abusive decrees even required. Thus she was a judge and prosecutor against these victims of Ghana’s human rights abuses. Indeed she has so far dealt with other convictions out of her personal and political biases so maliciously. But we would like her to know that Nkrumah came out of prison to give Gold Coast its independence. So was Nelson Mandela of South Africa. Somebody’s terrorist is always another person’s freedom fighter. So, Justice Mary Ekue Yanzuh, we are telling you this: DON’T THINK TODAY YOU ARE BUT THINK OF TOMORROW.
LEST WE FORGET:
SOME OF THE VICTIMS OF GHANA’S SECURITY FORCES SENSELESS MASSACRE OF UNARMED WESTERN TOGOLAND FREEDOM FIGHTERS DEMANDING THE RETURN OF THE STOLEN ARMED-ROBBED MOTHERLAND.
SOME OF THOSE WHO WERE BADLY INJURED
1. Kumasi Stephen
2. Fiewonu Robert
3. Duagbor Gilbert
4. Dotsa Joseph
5. Gogovi Godson
6. Avornu Jacob
7. Tornyeviadzi Kormi(aka Abizibey)
8. Kpexor Isael Besa
9. Michael Agbenu
10. Amezugbe Godwin
11. Amego Freeman
12. Adzoko Wisdom
13. Kpomegbe Jordan
14. Seamegbe Frank
SOME OF THOSE WHO DIED :
1. Charles Elo(in detention)
2. Phillip Bosso (aka Gallon: in detention)
3. Segbedzi Prosper (in Police Hospital from gun wounds)
May their souls rest in peace.
Note: This is not a comprehensive list. This is just to show the lawlessness of Ghana’s security and justice systems, as well as the absolute disregard for human lives and human rights under Akufo-Addo.
The writer, Bobby Quaqoo, is a freelance journalist and an African in the Diaspora and a Western Togoland Freedom Fighter.
Contact: westtogo@gmail.com