At midnight yesterday, Togo's side of the border with Ghana was opened. This comes more than 50 days after Ghana's land borders were reopened.
The Daily Graphic went to a several border communities, including Aflao, Akanu, and the Kpoglu-Segbe Border, to see how business was picking up.
The metal gates that had been locked between the two nations for two years following the emergence of the COVID-19 epidemic were open when the Daily Graphic arrived at the border checkpoint in Aflao about 8:30 a.m. yesterday.
Abla Dzifa Gomashie, the Member of Parliament for Ketu South, was among those who arrived early at the border station to observe the situation firsthand.
When the Daily Graphic visited the Kpoglu-Segbe border checkpoint, it was equally silent. Desolation
Despite the fact that the border had been opened, both sides of the border remained barren, with no human movement or business activity.
"Today is the first day, and some individuals in Lome and Aflao haven't heard about the reopening," claimed a top Togolese Immigration official who asked to remain anonymous.
On the Ghanaian side, Assistant Commissioner of Immigration (ACI) Frederick Duodu, the Aflao Sector Commander of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), indicated that people and vehicular traffic across the border will undoubtedly grow in the coming days.
GIS is ready to handle human traffic. He stated that officers from the Aflao Sector GIS were prepared for any increase in the number of people crossing the border.
Although people had been waiting for Togo to open its side of the border, ACI Duodu reported that no adverse incidents have happened so far.
According to the Daily Graphic, some heavy-duty vehicles were utilizing the ECOWAS Border Post at Akanu, near Dzodze, some 50 kilometers from Aflao, which accounted for the low volume of traffic at the Aflao Border Post.
Later in the day, a few hawkers showed up at the border station, hoping to make a quick buck.
As of 1:30 p.m., 65 Ghanaians and 16 ECOWAS nationals have entered the country. As of 11:06 a.m., nine Ghanaians had entered into Togo and four Togolese had crossed from Togo into Ghana at the Kpoglu-Segbe Border Post.
Identities
To cross the border, the majority of Ghanaians utilized their Ghana Cards or passports.
Ms Gomashie expressed appreciation to the leaders of both nations for listening to their people's pleas in an interview with the Daily Graphic.
"We hope that this would revive our livelihood in Ketu South, which involves cross-border business," said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP.
Ms Gomashie urged persons crossing the border to have legal identification and documentation of COVID-19 immunization, as well as to always follow the law.