ACCRA, Ghana, 24 August

Soldiers of the Ho Medium Mortar Regiment, about 180 km north of Accra, Tuesday called on the government to do everything possible to ensure that renewed moves to resolve the Ghana-Togo border problems peacefully lead to a lasting resolution of the matter.

The soldiers made the request when the member of parliament for Ho Central, Kofi Attor, briefed them on current national issues.

The soldiers observed that encroachments on Ghanaian territory and harassment of border communities by Togolese have been allowed to go on for a long time without any action from the Ghanaian side.

The soldiers said Ghana's inability to act on the issue had been interpreted by the Togolese as a weakness.

If the situation is allowed to go on unchecked, a time will come when a large part of the Volta Region will be lost to Togo; by which time it would be impossible to resolve the issue peacefully, they said.

They, therefore, suggested that the preventive wing of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service should be given the type of training necessary to enable them to professionally guard Ghana's territory.

Last week, a joint ministerial team from Ghana and Togo, led by their respective interior ministers inspected some border communities in the Volta Region.

This followed reports of attacks on Ghanaian border communities by Togolese and the removal of boundary pillars and encroachments on Ghanaian territory from Togo.

On the fight against armed robbery, the soldiers suggested that the five million cedis reward put up by the Ashanti Regional Security Council for information on armed robbers and should be adopted throughout the country.

The soldiers expressed concern about the situation in which armed robbers are freed after their arrest, saying this posed a threat to those who provided information for their arrest.

They said this would defeat the steps being taken to deal with the problem and deter informants from helping to arrest such robbers.

Attor assured the soldiers that their concerns were being addressed by the government in ways "that will ensure that the security of the state is not compromised."