Likpe Mate (Oti Region): Pillar 56 To 80 To Be Re-Affirmed on Togo/Ghana Land Boundary Lines

The Joint Ghana-Togo Boundary Reaffirmation Technical Committee is recommending the replacement of displaced, damaged, and missing boundary pillars along the International Boundary of the two countries. This initiative will verify and establish the precise and legally binding regulations of the land boundary of Togo and Ghana.

The committee is therefore engaging and educating the local communities and opinion leaders, at Likpe Mate and adjoining towns in the Guan district of the Oti region, about the relevance of the re-affirmation exercise. This is phase four of the re-affirmation of the international boundary between Ghana and Togo. It starts from pillar 56, located at Wli Afegame in the Volta region, to pillar 80 in Kadjebi in the Oti region, covering a distance of 150 kilometers.

The exercise is in compliance with the O.A.U charter, which stipulates that each country should hold on to its boundaries at the time of independence, with the aim of resolving disputes, while ensuring compliance with International Law.

At a joint sensitization session for traditional leaders at Likpe Mate, in the Guan district of the Oti region, officials from the Togo side said they are encouraged by the warm reception accorded them by their Ghanaian counterparts, and pledged their readiness to sensitize their people for a successful exercise. The Oti Regional minister, Dr. Joshua Makubu, says Ghanaians and Togolese are more alike than different, hence a successful reaffirmation exercise and territorial integrity will keep potential threats at bay.

The National Coordinator of the Ghana Boundary Commission, Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Kotia, said due to unidentifiable boundary lines, people from both sides, have trespassed through no fault of theirs. The MP for the Buem constituency, Mr. Kofi Adams and the Guan District Chief Executive, Madam Janet Obro-Adibo, are optimistic that the exercise will foster unity and achieve the peace the people in both countries want in the area.

After the sensitisation exercise, the Ghana Boundary Commission donated exercise books, mathematical sets, pens and pencils to the district assembly for distribution to school children in the area.