Discovery of Iron Ore in Oti: PLC of Western Togoland reacts

Peoples Liberation Council of Western Togoland – a group which has been pressing for the establishment of the Union between Ghana and Western Togoland following the results of the May 9, 1956 plebiscite, is livid with government over  its announcement of the discovery of Iron Ore in commercial quantities in the Oti region.

Oti regional minister, Joshua Makubu, earlier this month told the media at a press conference in Accra that “what is going to take Ghana from our current state to a very industrialized nation has been found in Oti and that is the Iron Ore.”

The Peoples Liberation Council in a press statement copied to Ghananewsonline.com.gh, however, said the announcement and the move by the government of Ghana to mine the mineral was an illegality and a travesty of international laws. It said the United Nations (UN) charter on Trust Territories forbids the exploitation of any natural resources in Western Togoland by Ghana and that “there is no formal agreement between Ghana and Western Togoland to warrant Ghana’s move since the Union between the two nations which should be addressing these issues was never established – and so there could be no grounds upon which Ghana should be exploiting mineral deposits in a territory that belongs to Western Togoland.”

The statement called on the international community to condemn the move by the government of Ghana and cautioned it to refrain from any such exploits going forward.

Read full statement below:

PRESS STATEMENT BY THE PEOPLE’S LIBERATION COUNCIL (PLC) OF WESTERN TOGOLAND ON THE GOVERNMENT OF GHANA’S ANNOUNCEMENT ON THE DISCOVERY OF IRON ORE IN  THE OTI REGION.

Warm Regards, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press.

The attention of the People’s Liberation Council (PLC) of Western Togoland has been drawn to some publications making rounds on various media platforms which the Council has sighted on the announcement of the government of Ghana on the purported discovery of IRON ORE in commercial quantities in the Oti region and the government’s move to leverage on Ghana’s LITHIUM deposits to start manufacturing batteries locally for which the PLC wishes to react accordingly as follows:

1. First of all we wish to state that there’s nothing like Oti region where the so-called discovery was said to have been made. That territory does not belong to the Gold Coast or the republic of Ghana but is a bonafide territory of Western Togoland, and therefore Ghana has no business whatsoever to trespass into that territory. Indeed the people of Western Togoland have long been aware of the deposits of iron ore in commercial quantities in that portion of their territory and so this announcement by the republic of Ghana about the discovery of the minerals was nothing new to the people of Western Togoland.
2. Indeed the UN charter on Trust Territories forbids the exploitation of mineral deposits by Ghana in Western Togoland (See the UN charter on Trust Territories below)  and as there is no formal agreement between the two nations since the Union which should have addressed these issues was never established, there could never have been any grounds upon which Ghana should be exploiting mineral deposits in Western Togoland leading to this so-called discovery. This action by the government of Ghana should be condemned in no uncertain terms by the international community and Ghana must be cautioned to refrain from any such exploits going forward.
3. That the LITHIUM which Ghana hopes to mine as raw material for the manufacture of batteries locally is also deposited in commercial quantities under the Adaklu mountain a territory also in Western Togoland which also Ghana is forbidden by international statutes from exploiting.
4. The impunity with which  Ghana has over the years handled the Western Togoland problem is giving birth to the second school of thought. Before the invasion of the colonial imperialists subsequently resulting in the annexation of Western Togoland to the Gold Coast or Ghana after Britain and her Collaborators in the UN used some Machiavellian antics to achieve their diabolical plans. This second school which is not the position of the PLC, They believe that the people of Western Togoland are tired of being treated as second-class citizens in their own nation by the government of Ghana. They also believe that these artificial barriers erected by Britain and France to separate the two TOGOLANDS should be removed so they can dwell together in unity and peace for accelerated development of their nations if Ghana continually refuses to implement the Union the people of Western Togoland voted for in the May 9, 1956 plebiscite.

A case in point was that of Eastern and Western Germany which were separated by the Berlin wall also known as the iron curtain during world war II. The people have realised the folly of this wall that separated them, pulled it down and united for a common national agenda and the rest is history.

We conclude by passionately appealing to any investors both local and foreign who may want to enter into any agreement with the government of Ghana for the mining of any natural resources under the earth in Western Togoland to tread cautiously as Ghana has no agreement with Western Togoland to that effect.

Until Ghana takes the necessary democratic and constitutional steps to implement the Union between the two nations Ghana and Western Togoland so as to come to an agreement on the way forward any such investment will be null and void and at the Investor’s own risk. Thank you for your usual cooperation and attention. God bless us all.

Please find links to the TOGOLAND Trusteeship Agreement Here:

Long live Western Togoland,

Long live Ghana,

Long Live Ghana and Western Togoland Union.

Issued by the Communications Bureau of the People’s Liberation Council (PLC) of Western Togoland.

By Efo Mensavi