I gathered a team, ‘scared’ Togolese from participating in 2016 elections — Hopeson Adorye

Hopeson Adorye, a member of Alan Kyerematen’s Movement for Change, has revealed details of an operation he led to deter Togolese nationals from participating in Ghana's 2016 general elections.

In an interview on Onua TV on May 16, 2024, Mr. Adorye disclosed that the operation took place at Togo border.

He said he used traditional authorities and intimidation tactics to scare away the Togolese from voting in favour of the then opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).

He explained that the mission aimed to address the recurring issue of alleged Togolese nationals registering to vote in the Volta Region of Ghana in favour of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

According to him, he formed a team and led the operation without informing the regional executives of his party.

“There is this issue in the Volta Region during elections that Togolese came and registered to vote. In 2016, they came to register alright, but I took it upon myself to disable the system so that they would not come and vote. I chose a team and made them swear an oath that they were not going to inform the regional executives of what we were going to do,” he said.

He continued, “We had local contact who grew up there (Togo) and he had a good relationship with the traditional authorities there. So, he moved us from one authority to the other so we could engage them. When we met them, we gave them a lot of money (CFA) for them to use for advocacy, radio announcements and the like.”

He further revealed that part of their strategy involved creating fear by causing explosion, aimed at scaring Togolese nationals from attempting to vote in Ghana.

“I told them that things were going to happen so they should not come… Because of what we told them, we put things in order. Everything that happened took place in Togo. Those saying it happened in the Volta Region, if you throw this (dynamite) at a polling station, won’t people die? Who in the Volta Region can say that there was an explosion in his or her area?" he argued.

He continued, “And I gated the people. After it (the explosion), I made them take off on the motorbikes. There was a commotion, and the people started saying that what we told them had started happening. It was a strategy. Everything happened in Togo.”

He also criticized the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for not acknowledging or rewarding his efforts and those of his team.

Listen to him in the video below (from “7:00”):