Major General Dr Emmanuel Kotia with Douti Lardja during engagement
The Ghana Boundary Commission and the Togo Lands Commission, through dialogue, have been able to resolve the long-standing boundary dispute with reference to the Pulmakom border in the Pusiga District of the Upper East Region.
The stakeholders at the dialogue, which took place at Cinkasse in Togo, agreed that per the legal and national demarcation documents prepared in the 1920s, the Kolpelig River was the official boundary separating the two countries.
Major General Dr Emmanuel Kotia, the National Coordinator of Ghana Boundary Commission, said after a joint discussion and visit to the places of contention, the two countries had clearly understood and appreciated the issue and had resolved to let peace prevail.
It would be recalled that there had been an unresolved pillar and landmark boundary issue between Ghana and Togo, especially along the Kolpelig River, one of the tributaries of the White Volta situated between Konugu in Togo and Gariki and Beliting communities in Ghana.
While the local and traditional authorities at Cinkasse in Togo claimed that the boundary was beyond the river towards Gariki, their counterparts at Pusiga debunked the claim and insisted that the river was the accurate boundary between the two countries.
The situation led to the Togolese authorities preventing their counterparts in Ghana from constructing a bridge at the Gariki community and extending electricity to the Beliting community.
Dr Kotia explained that there was a map produced in 1927 that had the Kolpelig River situated as the internationally accepted demarcation boundary, which was misunderstood by some section of Togolese.
“We have had a very fruitful discussion between the Ghana Boundary Commission and the Togo Boundary Commission and we have jointly gone round to the areas of contention and have both agreed that we will both go by the legal document that was established, so far as the boundary is concerned, in 1927,” he said.
“We have also agreed that places which were not opened to Ghana should now be opened ….and the Togolese have also come to the understanding that our security agencies should now patrol the areas.”
Dr Kotia, a Defence and Security Expert, noted that the boundary commissions of the two countries would work together to construct and replant new boundary pillars to avoid the reoccurrence of disputes.
Major General Kotia said the mandate of the Ghana Boundary Commission was to work to resolve boundary disputes.
Mr Douti Lardja, the Secretary of the Land Commission in Togo, affirmed that the Kolpelig River was the boundary between the two countries and reiterated Togo’s commitment to abiding by the agreement.
He called on the traditional authorities in both Cinkasse and Pulmakom to sensitise their subjects to fully appreciate that the Kolpelig River was the internationally accepted demarcation.
Traditional authorities of Cinkasse and Pulmakom attended the meeting.