The Ghana Boundary Commission and the Togo Lands Commission were able to resolve a long-standing boundary issue about the Pulmakom line in the Upper East Region’s Pusiga Distrct through dialogue.
The participants in the debate, which took place in Cinkasse, Togo, agreed that the Kolpelig River was the formal border between the two countries, as defined by legal and national demarcation documents drawn up in the 1920s.
Major General Dr. Emmanuel Kotia, the National Coordinator, 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.
As a result of the situation, Togolese officials have blocked their Ghanaian counterparts from constructing a bridge and extending electricity to the Beliting hamlet in Gariki.
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.”
Source: GNA
