Togo on Monday night opened its land border with Ghana, coming more than 50 days after Ghana reopened its land borders to neighbouring countries.
When Graphic Online’s Volta Regional correspondent Alberto Mario Noretti visited the border post in Lome at about 8:30 am Tuesday [May 17, 2022] the metal gates which were closed between the two countries for two years in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, were swung open.
Desolate
That, notwithstanding, both sides of the frontier remained desolate with little human movement and commercial activities across the border.
“Today is the first day, and some people in Lome and Aflao have not yet heard about the reopening yet,” said a senior Togolese immigration officer.
Similarly on the Ghana side, Assistant Commissioner of Immigration (ACI) in-charge of the Aflao Sector of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) said the number of human and vehicular traffic across the border would definitely increase in subsequent days.
GIS ready for human traffic
He gave an assurance that personnel of the Aflao Sector GIS were ready for any upsurge in the number of travellers across the border.
So far, he said no untoward incident occurred along the border.
Graphic Online gathered that some heavy-duty vehicles were using the ECOWAS Border Post at Akanu, near Dzodze, some 50 kilometres from Aflao, and that that contributed largely to the low volume of traffic at the Aflao Border Post.
Later in the day, a few hawkers turned up at border post, in the hope of doing brisk business.
As of 1:30 pm, 65 Ghanaians and 16 nationals of other ECOWAS countries had entered Lome from Aflao; while about a 100 people left Lome for Aflao.
Identities
Most of the Ghanaians used their Ghana Cards or passports to cross the border smoothly.
The NDC MP for Ketu South, Abla Dzifa Gomashie was among those who turned up early at the border post to see things at first hand.
Interacting with Graphic Online, she expressed gratitude to the leaders of the two countries for listening to cries of their people.
“And in Ketu South, we hope this will restore our livelihoods which invariably is cross-border commerce,” said Gomashie.
The law maker entreated people crossing the border to hold valid identities and proof of vaccination against COVID-19, and also be law-abiding in the area all the time.
Meanwhile, at the Kpoglu-Segbe Border Post, nine Ghanaians had crossed into Togo while four of their compatriots crossed from Togo into Ghana as of 11:06 am.
The border post was very quiet when Graphic Online visited there.
