Indigenous people and buyers turn to the Zio 1 prefecture and town hall to be heard

A once peaceful locality in the western part of Djagblé in Zio prefecture, the village of Gbamakopé is shaken by a land conflict that does not speak its name. At the heart of this dispute, more than 366 hectares coveted by the Kpassra Collectivity. This land drama that pointed out and this time in a virulent way in 2019 where this community, which according to the natives arose one fine morning like a cold sore, supported by law enforcement and security forces, decided the re-subdivision of this territory, however well occupied for several years by several thousand people to whom other communities including the Gbama, claiming to be the true natives, have sold the land, seemed to know a respite at the approach of the presidential election in February 2020. A little over a year after this election, the land conflict in question is playing out a new episode. In fact on the ground, the Kpassra came back to the charge again and this time, with a reinforcement, it is said of 600 dressed bodies, who would not hesitate to beat anyone who opposes their intervention. , in view of the execution, it is said of an ordinance held by the bailiffs Missité, Dzoka and Djéri, acting on behalf of the Kpassra Collectivity. Fearing a situation that might not be manageable if the populations (especially the buyers) decide to retaliate, the families or indigenous communities in a process of appeasement went Thursday to the Town Hall of the Municipality of Zio 1 and the prefecture to meet the heads of places. If at the prefecture of Zio, they were able to submit a document which sets out the situation prevailing on the ground, at the Town hall, they obviously had the right to an attentive ear and the Mayor and his Councilors who, already informed of this tragedy which was played on the municipal territory, quickly interrupted their current session for transport to the scene in order to see firsthand what is at stake and think about the approach to be adopted. If the problem remains unresolved, and the inscriptions on the fences of the houses sufficiently demonstrate the work of the representatives of the Kpassra Collectivity, as well as one of the people beaten, a pregnant woman, and some houses gutted, others still whose portals are systematically sealed, we can from the reception that these populations in anxiety, reserved for the Mayor and his suite, feel a slight relief on their part, since their sorrows are to a certain extent shared by the ’authority. Explanations that support the situation ... Initially, it is the Chief of the Village, the chief of the village, Emmanuel Afandjiga Gbama, whose Palace and hence his appointment decree, seems to be called into question by this conflict and if it turns out, by the The very authority that had delivered it to him, falters, finds it difficult to wake up from his sleep and save himself from his nightmare. He does not understand how justice seems to remain unmoved despite their multiple and vain claims for transport to the scene by the judges, until then if it is only to take for granted what the Kpassra tell them. Despite the desolation, the crowned head supported in its efforts by the Canton chief of Djagblé, Togbui Donou Fiohouassi Adonsou, continues to play at appeasement. "It is we who are calming the populations otherwise we would have already arrived at bloody clashes. All those who invest in this issue only dirty the rich policies of Faure Gnassingbé, whom we support elsewhere. We are trying to meet the head of state so that there is peace in my area, "he said. First spokesperson for the communities of Gbamakopé, concerned by this dispute, Kodjo Kpessou Gbama, confided that “for three weeks already, Gbamakopé has been invaded by agents of the security forces of 600 men, they break down the houses, trace the streets instead. and place, smash the gates, enter the houses and rooms, picking up tiles, which they take away, leaving inscriptions on the houses as being on the property of the Kpassra community. We do not understand anything. Gbamakopé is an ancient locality bequeathed to us by our ancestors since 1720 ”. Which agents, according to what they told the village chief, were acting on the basis of a document submitted to them by Minister Payadowa Boukpessi.
In the history of the community, made by Mr. Kpessou Gbama, the village of Gbamakopé was created in 1720, has an administrative certificate on all its domain since August 3, 1995, under the then prefect of Zio Mr. Hevi Doglan, with the effectiveness of all the neighboring communities confirming the right to property during the public inquiry ”. And it is therefore "oddly that individuals claiming to be from the Kpassra community have created a dispute covering an area of 5 hectares first, then 21 hectares and finally the entire area of the village". And, "from the court of first instance of Tsévié to the Supreme Court of Lomé via the Court of Appeal of Lomé, there is never any mention of the area of an entire village as being the property of the said community", we advise. All the delegation that made the trip to the premises of the prefecture of Zio, and the Town hall of Zio 1, before following the Mayor and his retinue in their descent on the ground, Thursday, did not hide its desolation, faced with the fact that today, "despite everything, the dispute has taken on new dimensions and continues to cause confusion" and that "today the whole village is in the process of dividing up for the benefit of the Kpassra community supported by the security forces ”and that they be asked to buy back their own land near those they qualify as“ impostors and forgers ”. Of the various cases pending or known by the courts on this land dispute opposing them to this community that they seem to know neither from Adan, nor from Eve, beforehand, the natives also accuse their face of maneuvers made by not transmitting not the various summons given to them for those with whom they had differences. To hear Mr. Kpessou, if the populations have kept their calm until then on the advice of traditional chiefs, we do not know until when this calm will be maintained. He says he considers “what is happening to be a hassle. We are indeed one of the 7 million Togolese ”. And to continue, They (The Kpassra and supporters, editor’s note) say that it is the authorities who send them. We have convinced ourselves that before the law, these lands belong to us ", therefore," we will continue to cry out until justice is done and the impostors leave our lands alone. "

Who are ultimately behind this drama ?
In the context of this re-subdivision planned by the Kpassra on the disputed territory, we would speak of a plan with administrative reserves promised to the State for the construction of a gendarmerie and police camp and others. Is it ultimately a veiled expropriation ? If so, do we need more than 366 hectares to install these public utility structures ? Who manipulates or what black hands would she hide behind this drama with a Kpassra face, to the point that government ministers, accustomed to the use of brute force, come to injunction a human rights defender not to get involved in such a case, assisting the victims ? How The Kpassra, whose history finally recognizes one of their ancestors, as having been a visitor welcomed by a neighboring community to the Gbama, the Awouya who only own about 5 hectares of land in the area, come to proclaim themselves as easily as owners of 366 hectares, and that justice does not come to say the right correctly ? This, by purely and simply asking the Awouya and their visitors, the Kpassra, to be satisfied with their previous 5 hectares ? All these questions rightly remained without the resignation of the lawyer of the Gbama, after having exhausted without success, all the remedies yet recognized by the law, to bring justice to reason, sufficiently prove that this The land file ultimately goes beyond the legal framework to take on a different color that only the Kpassra and supporters must clearly admit. The reason for the Strongest ? For everyone to judge. In any case, in Gbamakopé, we are still a long way from this rule of law that the governance Faure Gnassingbé has been shouting at the top of their lungs and all day long for these 16 years of reign over Togo, following his father, and it is not the Mayor and the Municipal Councilors of the Municipality of Zio 1, traveling to the scene last Thursday who would deny us, in view of the situation on the ground and their great astonishment that only one ancestor, however powerful - he comes to claim the paternity of such an expanse of land. From all of the above, it can be concluded that a tragedy is looming on the horizon in this village of several thousand inhabitants and in the event that the populations decide to respond piecemeal to the mandates of the Kpassra and supporters. And no one would benefit from bloodshed because of the land. Otherwise, the governmental authorities as well as the judicial authorities or the administrative structures seized by the natives, as evidenced by the discharges of the mails deposited and of which we were able to obtain copies, will only be held responsible for what would happen. We will come back to this, in case our various steps to obtain the opposing party’s version of the facts were to be conclusive.
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