NORTHERN CHIEFS GO WILD OVER GOVT’S LONG SILENCE ON ACTIVITIES OF FULANI HERDSMEN
The Incessant nefarious activities of the alien Fulani Herdsmen in the country have indeed become a great source of worry to traditional rulers in the three Northern Regions, whose people are worst victims of those activities.
The Chiefs have therefore vowed to adopt their own means of flashing out the alien herdsmen of their communities, since the state has been very unconcerned about the issue.
The over 60 Paramount Chiefs also expressed serious disappointment at the government for unjustifiably failing to institute concrete measures to regulate and monitor the activities of the Fulanis, whom they said were becoming “nuisance” in the Ghanaian societies.
At a roundtable discussion of all Paramount Chiefs in the three Northern Regions held in Tamale recently to discuss the drafted Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) Bill and make significant inputs, majority of the Chiefs criticized government for over glorifying the so-called ECOWAS protocol of free trade and human movement at the expense of the rights, safety and security of Ghanaians.
The Paramount Chief of Gwollu in the Sissala West District of the Upper West Region, Kuoro Kuri-Buktie Limann II was one of the vociferous Chiefs who were passionate about the issue of the Fulanis.
He indicated that his traditional area was close to the Burkina Faso-Ghana border and thus recounted some of the bad activities of the aliens. The Chief lamented that apart from broad day robbery and destruction of people’s farms, the Fulani Herdsmen also engaged in raping married women and other young ladies at gun point.
They sometimes also kill and takeover livestock animals of some poor farmers and run away unpunished.
The Paramount Chief of Gwollu therefore challenged government and for that matter Parliament to without any further delay, come out with a legislative instrument that could transform the Fulanis and sanction them when necessary.
The Paramount Chief of Kpembe Traditional Area in the East Gonja District (Salaga), Kpembewura Haruna Kabasigi also lamented that he did not foresee any possibility of government taking stringent measures to flash out or regulate the activities of the alien Fulanis, since several public outcries to government had gone wasted.
The Kpembewura therefore announced his plans to unilaterally demarcate a portion of the lands in his area to the Fulanis where they would be confined or restricted from mingling with the indigenes and crossing people’s farms. They would have access to all the basic amenities especially water and electricity.
According to him, he was already in talks with the leadership of the Fulanis to ensure that all their members and animals were registered to avoid stealing of other people’s cattle.
The Paramount Chiefs of Bolgatanga and Yunyoo, Bolga-Naaba Martin Abilba and Yunyoo-Rana Yamyia Tooka II respectively in separate interviews also attributed the growing problem to successive governments’ inability to include traditional authorities in governance.
According to the Yunyoo-Rana, the ECOWAS Protocol treaty was not superior to the laws of Ghana and enjoined government to be firm and resolute in protecting its people’s lives and properties.
He stated that the serious nuisance the Fulani Herdsmen were creating in Ghana could not be perpetrated or accepted in any other ECOWAS member country.
The Chief therefore called on government to control the Fulanis and let them to pay heavy taxes and also face serious sanctions for any wrongs they commit.
Meanwhile, the activities of alien Fulani Herdsmen are gradually threatening the security of residents in the three Northern Regions.
These aliens are alleged to be the brain behind major highway robberies, indiscriminate rape of women and the burning of farms leading to considerable loss of farm produce stored in the farm houses and those yet to be harvested.
They are also believed to be engaged in the cutting down of food crops and economic trees in feeding their animals which is making the north more prone to desertification.
Residents on several occasions have engaged in confrontations with these herdsmen and raised concerns over their continuous stay in the region and have therefore called on the authorities to as a matter of urgency eject them or closely monitor their activities.
Many have also blamed them for the poor harvest which had impacted negatively on the food security in the Northern Sector regarded as the bread baskets of the country.
By Edmond Gyebi
The Incessant nefarious activities of the alien Fulani Herdsmen in the country have indeed become a great source of worry to traditional rulers in the three Northern Regions, whose people are worst victims of those activities.
The Chiefs have therefore vowed to adopt their own means of flashing out the alien herdsmen of their communities, since the state has been very unconcerned about the issue.
The over 60 Paramount Chiefs also expressed serious disappointment at the government for unjustifiably failing to institute concrete measures to regulate and monitor the activities of the Fulanis, whom they said were becoming “nuisance” in the Ghanaian societies.
At a roundtable discussion of all Paramount Chiefs in the three Northern Regions held in Tamale recently to discuss the drafted Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) Bill and make significant inputs, majority of the Chiefs criticized government for over glorifying the so-called ECOWAS protocol of free trade and human movement at the expense of the rights, safety and security of Ghanaians.
The Paramount Chief of Gwollu in the Sissala West District of the Upper West Region, Kuoro Kuri-Buktie Limann II was one of the vociferous Chiefs who were passionate about the issue of the Fulanis.
He indicated that his traditional area was close to the Burkina Faso-Ghana border and thus recounted some of the bad activities of the aliens. The Chief lamented that apart from broad day robbery and destruction of people’s farms, the Fulani Herdsmen also engaged in raping married women and other young ladies at gun point.
They sometimes also kill and takeover livestock animals of some poor farmers and run away unpunished.
The Paramount Chief of Gwollu therefore challenged government and for that matter Parliament to without any further delay, come out with a legislative instrument that could transform the Fulanis and sanction them when necessary.
The Paramount Chief of Kpembe Traditional Area in the East Gonja District (Salaga), Kpembewura Haruna Kabasigi also lamented that he did not foresee any possibility of government taking stringent measures to flash out or regulate the activities of the alien Fulanis, since several public outcries to government had gone wasted.
The Kpembewura therefore announced his plans to unilaterally demarcate a portion of the lands in his area to the Fulanis where they would be confined or restricted from mingling with the indigenes and crossing people’s farms. They would have access to all the basic amenities especially water and electricity.
According to him, he was already in talks with the leadership of the Fulanis to ensure that all their members and animals were registered to avoid stealing of other people’s cattle.
The Paramount Chiefs of Bolgatanga and Yunyoo, Bolga-Naaba Martin Abilba and Yunyoo-Rana Yamyia Tooka II respectively in separate interviews also attributed the growing problem to successive governments’ inability to include traditional authorities in governance.
According to the Yunyoo-Rana, the ECOWAS Protocol treaty was not superior to the laws of Ghana and enjoined government to be firm and resolute in protecting its people’s lives and properties.
He stated that the serious nuisance the Fulani Herdsmen were creating in Ghana could not be perpetrated or accepted in any other ECOWAS member country.
The Chief therefore called on government to control the Fulanis and let them to pay heavy taxes and also face serious sanctions for any wrongs they commit.
Meanwhile, the activities of alien Fulani Herdsmen are gradually threatening the security of residents in the three Northern Regions.
These aliens are alleged to be the brain behind major highway robberies, indiscriminate rape of women and the burning of farms leading to considerable loss of farm produce stored in the farm houses and those yet to be harvested.
They are also believed to be engaged in the cutting down of food crops and economic trees in feeding their animals which is making the north more prone to desertification.
Residents on several occasions have engaged in confrontations with these herdsmen and raised concerns over their continuous stay in the region and have therefore called on the authorities to as a matter of urgency eject them or closely monitor their activities.
Many have also blamed them for the poor harvest which had impacted negatively on the food security in the Northern Sector regarded as the bread baskets of the country.
By Edmond Gyebi
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