Sylvanus Olympio, first president of Togo
Togo’s first president, Sylvanus Olympio, was a vocal critic of Ghana’s first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of Osagifo, particularly his attempts to take over western Togoland, now the Volta region.
According to him, Ghana not only wanted to annex Western Togoland to Ghana, but also wanted to integrate the entire Republic of Togo into Ghana.
He said Mr Nkrumah’s objectives were illogical and unacceptable, and that no one would be willing to join Ghana unless there was coercion.
In an old footage sighted by Ghanaweb, Sylvanus Olympio said: “Rather than the Ewe part of Togoland, Ghana wants to unite the entire Republic of Togo, achieving one-third of the Republic of Togo, which was Britain’s obligation.” Takeaway. Ghana feels that the logical conclusion of such an agreement is to incorporate the rest of Togo, which we of course oppose.
“I think you will agree that in the current situation in Ghana, no one would be willing to join such a country without going to war.”
Before becoming Togo’s president, Olimpio supported Togo’s independence and hoped to unify the Ewe people, who lived partly between Togo and Ghana.
When asked by the interviewer whether there is a contradiction between the desire for independence and the unity of the tribes, the reason for fighting for the independence of the Republic of Togo is to combat the challenges faced at the various borders between the countries. He said that it had a major impact mainly on Togo. trade and movement of people.
To him, these challenges would have been better resolved if both countries had equal powers as independent states.
Only through this, Togo could achieve independence and the Ewe people could be unified, he added.
“I don’t see any contradiction in that. If you follow our history, during the colonial regime, we never openly demanded independence from the beginning.
“We were just pointing out the difficulties that these arbitrary boundaries create. That is a problem between us and Ghana. At that time, we tried to overcome some of these difficulties. For example, eliminating tariff barriers, harmonizing taxation, and greatly facilitating the movement of people and property.
“…So if you are independent, if the Republic of Togoland becomes independent and Ghana becomes an independent African state, then the achievement of these objectives of eliminating tariff barriers and facilitating trade will be We hope it will be very easy. It will allow people and property to be moved and it will make it very easy for the Ewe people,” he added.
Ghana held a referendum in 1956 to vote to integrate the British colony of Togoland into Ghana.
As a result of the poll, 58% of western Togolese voted to integrate into Ghana, which became independent in 1957.
On May 9, 2017, the Fondation du Groupe d’étude de la Patrie (French: Fondation du Groupe d’étude de la Patrie) unsuccessfully attempted to declare independence for western Togoland.
Ghana Web, Ghana’s leading digital news platform, collaborates with Korlebu Teaching Hospital to ensure Parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvest, donation and transplantation in the country We are embarking on an aggressive campaign.
NW/AE