By: Godwin A. Allotey
About 50 military personnel have been deployed to Kwahu Afram Plains in the Eastern Region, to help flush out nomadic herdsmen whose activities are causing havoc in the area. The military personnel, who will be in the area for about a month, will complement the efforts of traditional authorities in their quest to fight the Fulani menace. This follows the death of more than five people as a result of clashes between Fulani herdsmen and Indigenes especially in Kwahu East.
The Acting President of the Kwahu Traditional Council, Nana Asiedu Agyemang III, who confirmed this to Citi News, said he is hopeful the presence of the military will drive out the nomadic Fulani herdsmen.
“They are army officers and recruits to help those who were initially sent to the place in driving away the Fulani herdsmen and their cows. I think they will be there for about a month.”
He explained that because the area shares border with Agogo in the Asante Region “what happens in Agogo also happens in Kwahu Afram Plains.”
“I’m told they will get the herdsmen and their cows from our land by the end of this month and thereafter they will organize a stakeholders meeting where Nananom [Chiefs] and those who want to rear the cattle and then government and the security agencies will meet to find a lasting solutions to this problem because it’s been occurring from time to time.”
Meanwhile in Sekyere Afram Plains in the same region, the District Chief Executive, Fuseini Donkor, has confirmed to Citi News a meeting among the District Security Council, residents, and nomads to help identify the unregistered herdsmen who should be driven out.
“We’ve invited all those heads of the Fulani community to that particular meeting so that together with the farmers, we can iron out how we can identify the resident ones and the nomads who come perennially. Those who are supposed to be there, we will give them identification and strict rules to follow. It will reduce the engagement between the herdsmen and the farmers; and it will also reduce the type of confrontations and clashes that we’ve been witnessing,” he added.
More than 260 Fulani herdsmen ran to the Bole District in the Northern Region as refugees following a conflict between them and the Brifos, an Ivorian ethnic group at Bouna, a border town near Bole in Ghana.
The escaping cattle herders and their families, mostly children and women, ran to Ghana after they were chased out of the town by the locals in Bouna.
The Brifos were said to be angered by the continued destruction of their farms by the animals of the herdsmen.
Confirmation
The Bole District Police Commander, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Eric Awiadem, confirmed the development to the Graphic Online in an interview.
He explained that on Friday, March 25, this year, the Bole District Security Committee (DISEC) heard that there was a conflict between the Fulani herdsmen and the Brifo people. Following the information, he said the DISEC suspected there could be a spillover of the conflict to Ghana since it was close to Bole.
Assistance
ASP Awiadem added that the military was called in to take a recce at the border in order to prevent any eventuality. He said the military assisted the police to bring the Fulanis from Bouna to Bole, explaining that the Fulanis who were running to Ghana could have been attacked by the other Brifos living in Ghana around the border had it not been the presence of the military.
ASP Awiadem said the Fulanis have been provided with shelter in Bole, saying they did not come with their cattle. He added that “We don’t want them to bring their cattle here to cause any trouble to our farmers”. He, however, denied earlier media reports that the military had invaded the town.
Military
When contacted, the Sixth Garrison Public Relations Officer (PRO), Flying Officer Elizabeth Salifu, said the military received an order to move to the area to assist the police.
“We were called to assist the police and to provide escort services to those who were crossing over to Bole”, she stated.
Source: graphics online
