The Ghana National Association of Cattle Farmers is proposing the enactment of specific bye-laws to regulate their activities, which will by extension address the decade old protracted conflict between Fulani Herdsmen and the locals at Agogo in the Asante Akim North Municipality of the Ashanti Region.
The Ashanti Regional Security Council on Thursday started e some evicting some nomadic herdsmen and their cattle from Agogo as part of steps to finding a lasting solution to the impasse between the Fulanis and townsfolk.
This comes after residents of Agogo accused the nomadic herdsmen of destroying their crops and also killing their relatives.
[contextly_sidebar id=”q8snYVHkRzga0DQescZ8lbXtjldVoKGR”]The residents of Agogo have further vowed to take on the herdsmen after a farmer was allegedly shot and killed by one of the Fulanis.
The residents have repeatedly accused government of failing to act on a court order three years ago that recommended the eviction of the Fulanis.
But speaking on Citi FMs’ News analysis programme ‘The Big Issue‘, the National Chairman of the Association of Cattle Farmers, Imam Hanafi Sonde, said the bye-laws if enacted and implemented, will compel residents and herdsmen to live in peace and harmony.
“The problem between the herdsmen and the crop farmers needs to be addressed in a way that will not repeat itself; and the way to do that is by implementing a bye-law or policy to govern them,” he added.
He further advised the Fulanis in Agogo “to be patient and be calm and also follow the instructions of the law because once the law has passed the judgement, nobody has anything to say again. So we are pleading with our herdsmen there to relocate for now, and after that; if there should be any other agreement through which they could come legally and stay, that will be fine.”
The Chairman also proposed three ways to stop the conflicts across the country.
First he said “we must track the free and illegal movement of cattle.”
Imam Hanafi Sonde also said there must be formal agreement on land lease between the herdsmen and the chiefs or land owners.
“Many of our people go and settle on lands without any formal agreement with the chiefs and land owners. With that also, at the end of it, someone may just come and drive you away due to lack of proper documentation.”
“The third one is that, in every community, we need to know how many number of cattle herds that are in those communities,” he added.
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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana