Speaking at a meeting with leaders of nomadic herdsmen communities of Fulani extraction, the President expressed concerns about the persistent clashes describing it as worrying.

[contextly_sidebar id=”PjQUQONqR6RXIPuzqJ0pTydwOUlLuKzH”]There have been a number of clashes between nomadic herdsmen and local farmers that have in some cases led to injuries, death and destruction of property.

Tensions escalated recently in the Asante Akyem North District of the Ashanti Region after four security personnel, including three military officers and a police officer, who had been deployed to the area to evict nomadic herdsmen and their cattle, were shot by an unknown assailant at Agogo.

The government had dispatched about 200 personnel drawn from the military and police service to the Asante Akyem North and Sekyere Afram Plains districts, to flush out nomadic herdsmen who were reportedly terrorizing farmers.

Hundreds of cattle were killed, while some of the herders and their cattle were evicted from the Asante Akyem North, into the Sekyere District.

Other incidents that occurred at Dwerebeafe, Aboyan and Mpeamu in the Kwahu East District between nomadic herdsmen believed to be of Fulani extraction and some farmers, reportedly led to the death of nine persons.

The President however reiterated government’s commitment to working with leaders of communities of nomadic herdsmen to bring these clashes to an end.

“It is important that I speak frankly to you. Everybody in this country has been disturbed by the activities of ‘Fulani herdsmen’. You hear about reports from different parts of the country, Volta Region, Ashanti Region is very disturbing and therefore finding a solution is one of the big concerns of my government. “

“When Kufuor was here ten years ago, he began to work hard to resolve the problem and unfortunately he had to go and the government went with him, but we are back and we are determined to find a solution that will protect everybody, the herdsmen, the cattle and the community in which they work because if we do not have the understanding of having to work together , it becomes very difficult. I want to thank you for the courage and sense of responsibility in coming here and this is commendable,” the President told the community leaders at a meeting at the Flagstaff House.

At the meeting, it was decided that a special task-force will be set up to ensure that persons fueling these clashes are dealt with.

“I am very encouraged by the offer of the task-force. They will work together in your community and the law enforcement agencies to make sure anybody who wants to misbehave is dealt with appropriately.”

“I feel very strongly the statement made by the spokesperson that there are herdsmen everywhere and whenever they misbehave they say Fulani Herdsmen and it is a pity that that should be the case and that is why we have to make sure the matter changes.”

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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He attributed the success to the diligence of government’s task-force known as Operation Cowleg.

A combined team of police and military personnel are currently in the Municipality to evict the herdsmen and their cattle.

[contextly_sidebar id=”HGqjPOEf7lpIVmhOY1Q8GkkjEzbomvEu”]Speaking to Citi News on the work of the task-force, Francis Oti Boateng said they have recorded some progress in the last few weeks.

“It’s a huge progress that we are making, but until we see no cattle on our land, I cannot say that we’ve won the fight. But I can tell that we estimated over 45,000 cattle on our land, and I can tell that at the moment almost half of them are gone, and we are making a lot of progress at the moment,” the DCE added.

Whiles majority of the cattle were taken out unharmed, there are reports that nearly 2000 of them were killed.

Background

Following complaints of alleged atrocities being committed by nomadic herdsmen and the destruction of farms in Agogo in the Ashanti Region and parts of the Eastern Region, government re-launched Operation Cow leg which comprised police and military personnel tasked to flush out the herders and their cattle from those areas.

In Agogo, four security personnel including three military officers and a police officer, who had been deployed to the area to evict the herdsmen, were shot and injured by an unknown assailant following the renewed government efforts to address the long-standing conflict.

There were reports of herdsmen fleeing the area amid complaints of the wanton killing of cattle by the task-force.

A cattle owner in Agogo, who spoke to Citi News, said he lost over 70 of his cattle to the task-force, and he had to beg the government to give him more time to move all his livestock from the area.

Recently, 200 additional personnel were deployed to Agogo and Sekyere Afram Plains districts after some military and police officers were shot at Agogo.

Operation Cow leg can’t solve herdsmen menace 

But an International Relations Analyst, Dr. Vladimir Antwi Danso, has insisted that Operation Cow leg is bound to fail again.

According to him, those are just knee-jerk approaches to the issue which needs proper solution such as ranching.

“It is one of the kinetic ways of solving a problem using full force. But this is not the first time we have operation cow leg and I believe that is not the way of resolving it. Maybe in the interim, the specific Agogo situation yes, but what about all over Ghana?”

“It’s about time we started ranching system. The breeding of cattle in Ghana must have some modernity to it,” he said.

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By: Farida Shaibu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Over 20,000 cattle ‘flushed out’ of Agogo – MCE appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Abdulai Musah, Osmanu Issaka, Mohammed Issaka, Issah Jawo, Alhaji Ali Issah, Suleiman Adams and Aliu Amadu are facing provisional charges of conspiracy and murder.

[contextly_sidebar id=”jouLREyHgemRBfWNEaYNDyVnU9mU6bB3″]Their pleas were not taken and they were ordered to be held in police custody to make their next appearance on February 02.

Their three other accomplices, identified as Alhaji Buba, Gariba and Fuseini, are on the run.

The deceased officers – Inspector Adolf Mutse and Constable Prosper Ashinyo were shot and killed while returning from night patrol duty.

Another officer, Constable Enoch Okyere, suffered serious gunshot wounds in the attack and is on admission at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Asumadu Okyere-Darko told the court presided over by Mr Peter Oppong-Boahen that the accused persons met to plan the attack on January 09 in the house of Suleiman Adams at Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region.

They had plotted to wage war on officers of the security services over the ongoing operation to forcibly remove nomadic herdsmen and their cattle from the Ashanti portion of the Afram Plains.

Mohammed Issaka reportedly offered to providing funding and promised each person cash of GH¢60,000.00 together with 30 cattle.

He was said to have made a down payment of GH¢1,000.00 to the five persons who carried out the January 11 attack that left the pair dead and their colleague hurt.

The plea for bail by lawyers for the accused persons was refused by the court.

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Source: GNA

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Areas such as Nsuta, Esereso, Ntrodo, Nkodua-Aframso among others, are now the new destination for the herdsmen.

[contextly_sidebar id=”jo5rBxSU1roH6meBKmQNWT6h8qMSG6Mg”]Speaking to Citi News, Nsuta Police Commander, DSP Charles Atuah, said even though they have found the nomadic herdsmen at these areas, they will need intensive actions to be able to move them due to possible violent behaviours.

“Since last Friday, we have been embarking on series of operation to such areas to monitor, where they are located, even yesterday [Wednesday], we were on the ground at 12:00noon and truly we found most of them positioning at vantage points. Those that we have come in touch with, we want them to proceed, but yet we need a lot of intensive actions to be taken against them, because you know how these people are,” he said.

Charles Atuah said the district is constraint logistically and handling such a matter is beyond their control.

Meanwhile, residents of the Sekyere Central District are calling on the government to act to stop the migration.

The District Chief Executive for the area, Kwadwo Bediako Banahene, has declared war on the herdsmen saying the police and military will be used to evict them if they refuse to leave the town.

He said the district cannot contain them, and he will not allow what happened at Agogo to happen in his district.

“The only thing we can do is what happened at Agogo, so the military men and policemen, that were asked by the national security should come help us out, because our people here have been farmers for a very long time, and that is where they live and if we are not very careful, what happened at Agogo, may also happen here,” he said.

200 military, police deployed to Agogo

Government recently dispatched about 200 personnel drawn from the military and police service to Agogo to flush out nomadic herdsmen who are reportedly terrorizing residents of those areas.

A statement signed by a Deputy Minister of Information, Curtis Perry Kwabia Okudzeto, said the joint security team has been tasked to “push back the herdsmen from new areas they have occupied, arrest perpetrators of recent acts of violence for prosecution, and augment the efforts of Operation Cow Leg, an ongoing security operation aimed at dealing with the activities of herdsmen in the area.”

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By: Farida Yusif/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Sekyere district in fear as herdsmen ‘takeover’ the area appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, those are just knee-jerk approaches to the issue which needs proper solution.

“It is one of the kinetic ways of solving a problem using full force. But this is not the first time we have operation cow leg and I believe that is not the way of resolving it. Maybe in the interim, the specific Agogo situation yes, but what about all over Ghana?”

[contextly_sidebar id=”3sxjB9LVt3kC7UXGwz1Ztbin9cio51By”]Speaking on the Point Blank Segment on Eyewitness News, Dr. Antwi Danso explained that most of the herdsmen who are bearing the brunt of Operation Cow leg are usually not the rightful owners of the cattle hence such strategy must be re-looked.

“It is not the herdsmen who own the cattle. Medical officers, military officers, chiefs, politicians among others own the cattle so why are we blaming the herdsmen? The very people who own the cattle what have we done to them? I’m not saying what they are doing is good. If they rape women and kill people, that is criminal and we have to deal with them.”

Background

Following complaints of alleged atrocities being committed by nomadic herdsmen and the destruction of farms in Agogo in the Ashanti Region and parts of the Eastern Region, government re-launched Operation Cow leg which comprised police and military personnel tasked to flush out such people from those areas.

Recently, 200 additional personnel were deployed to Agogo and Sekyere Afram Plains districts after some military and police officers were shot at Agogo.

A statement signed by a Deputy Minister of Information, Curtis Perry Kwabia Okudzeto, said the joint security team has been tasked to “push back the herdsmen from new areas they have occupied, arrest perpetrators of recent acts of violence for prosecution, and augment the efforts of Operation Cow leg, an ongoing security operation aimed at dealing with the activities of herdsmen in the area.”

Ranching is the solution

But speaking on Point Blank on Tuesday, Dr. Danso said the only solution to the issue is to resort to what he referred to as ranching.

“It’s about time we started ranching system. The breeding of cattle in Ghana must have some modernity to it,” he said.

Antwi Danso explained that with ranching, cattle can be taken care of professionally without causing havoc to any farm or property, adding that “if we don’t do this the Fulani menace will continue forever and forever.”

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post Operation Cow leg can’t solve herdsmen menace – Antwi Danso appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

A statement signed by a Deputy Minister of Information, Curtis Perry Kwabia Okudzeto said the joint security team has been tasked to “push back the herdsmen from new areas they have occupied, arrest perpetrators of recent acts of violence for prosecution and augment the efforts of Operation Cowleg, an ongoing security operation aimed at dealing with the activities of herdsmen in the area.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”IAxSnIBTyiBwN4J2EysDSNkboVspKGvF”]The statement also said a programme to “restrict and ranch cattle will commence upon completion of this operation, to provide a long-term solution to the challenges associated with unrestricted cattle rearing.”

3 soldiers, police officer shot at Agogo

Three soldiers and a police officer, who are part of the task-force set up to evict nomadic herdsmen in the Asante Akyem North District were wounded earlier this week after they were shot by an unidentified assailant.

According to Police in the area, the assailant lay in wait and shot at the security personnel, who were in the bush as part of measures to evict the nomadic herdsmen and their cattle.

Herdsmen fleeing Agogo after ‘attack’

Some herdsmen in the district had fled the area following heightened tensions caused by the shooting of the four security personnel.

One of the cattle owners who spoke to Citi News, said security personnel were shooting ruthlessly at their cattle and stealing the meat.

“Some security personnel came into Agogo Township around December 23, they took to the bush and started shooting at the cattle, killed them and carried them away. Even today, they still do it. Fulani herdsmen are now fleeing the township. Some are currently hiding. Anytime they go, they shoot the cattle. They have KIA trucks following them and whenever they kill the cattle they carry it away. I think they share it among themselves.”

There was some backlash in Agogo towards the end of 2017 when cattle owners accused the District Security Council (DISEC) in the area of failing to give them prior notice before embarking on an operation to drive away their cattle from the town.

The owners claimed that the joint security task-force carrying out the operation has deliberately killed over a hundred cattle, and have sold out some to indigenes of the area.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Over 200 security personnel dispatched to Agogo amid tensions appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Residents in the area say they are living in fear after some nine mud houses were burnt down by persons suspected to be nomadic herdsmen.

[contextly_sidebar id=”C9NryE6iSj16GCtUjSKNSY2RgHZXaO9T”]The situation is reported to have rendered hundreds of residents homeless.

District Chief Executive for Kwahu East,  who visited the area on Thursday after the incident, condemned the act and called on the Police to intervene.

Speaking on Eyewitness News on Friday, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Eastern Regional Police Command, Ebenezer Tetteh, said “investigations are underway” to arrest the culprits.

Mr. Tetteh further pointed out that the Police had intensified security in the area following the incident.

Explaining why the Police had not yet made any arrest , Mr. Tetteh indicated that, it will be unfair to hold anyone responsible before investigations are completed.

“You can make the arrest, but the arrest is not the end of it. You must go beyond the arrest and actually establish that they actually committed the crime. We want to be professional,” he added.

This attack comes on the back of assurances from the Eastern Regional Security Council (REGSEC), that residents in the area were safe.

The REGSEC visited the affected communities in the region, to interact with the people, farmers, chiefs and the leadership of the Herdsmen, to dialogue and find lasting solutions to the reprisal attacks.

Recent reprisal attacks between the nomadic herdsmen and some farmers in the Kwahu East District, which have led to the deaths of a number of people, and resulted in several others fleeing their homes and work places, have heightened tensions in the area.

The situation has forced the deployment of more police personnel to ensure law and order.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Police probes burnt houses at Asumesu allegedly by nomadic herdsmen appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

A committee set up by the Kwahu Traditional Council has so far registered more than twenty-thousand cattle owned by over two hundred people.

The move is to mobilize the cattle and ranch them in fodder banks to prevent them from grazing on farmlands.

[contextly_sidebar id=”TnvnrpLDjPZuv7ofVuuvxKy8m6nLPloR”]Speaking to Citi News, head of the Steering committee, Zenu Bawa, however, indicated that, some of the cattle owners are under-declaring their cattle to evade tax obligations from the Ghana Revenue Authority.

“We’ve realized that some of owners do under declare the number of their cattle, mainly because they thought that we were doing it to give the information to GRA to tax them. Unfortunately that is not the issue.  What we are doing is to resolve a security problem – it is to end the conflict between crop farmers and cattle farmers.”

He noted that his outfit has been able to intensify education for the 225 cattle owners, adding that they are hoping to get accurate figures to aid in decision making.

“We have taken steps to do those corrections and some of the owners understand that whatever quantity they give to us, the decision is going to be based on that. Because the 2,268 acres of land is largely inadequate to absolve even the current number that we have which is about 24,377 cattle population that we’ve registered. The owners are 225 people. We are going to contact each of these owners to give us a clearer picture because we have now taken the steps to educate them to make them understand that the information they have given us is largely inaccurate,” he added.

Background

About eight people lost their lives with several others sustaining injuries in separate reprisal attacks at Dwibease and Wheewhee communities about a fortnight ago.

The Eastern Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Ebenezer Tetteh, in a Citi News interview said some have blamed the reprisal attacks on alleged destruction of farmlands by the cattle belonging to the nomadic herdsmen.

“Reasons for the killings are yet to be known, but with the history between herdsmen and residents in Kwahu, it can be linked to the destruction of farmlands by cattle.”

E/Region: Operation cow leg to return

Meanwhile, the Eastern Regional Security Council is considering a revival of ‘Operation Cow Leg’ to address conflicts between mostly local farmers and nomadic herdsmen.

As part of the operation, Police and Military will be deployed to patrol the Kwahu enclave to avert clashes.

This approach to fighting the menace in the era of then President Kufuor, has been criticized as not being effective.

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By: Farida Shaibu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ending the conflict: Over 20,000 cattle registered in Kwahu appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The 85 personnel, who were dispatched from the Police Headquarters last week to calm tensions and protect lives and properties at Dwerebease and Hweehwee after reprisal attacks between nomadic herdsmen and some farmers, which led to the death of some 8 people, are struggling to access water which they say is affecting their work.

This was revealed by the Commanding Officer of the troops, Chief Inspector Albert Abalem, when members of the Regional Security Council visited the affected communities to have a fair idea about the situation on the ground after the reprisal attacks.

Chief Inspector Albert Abalem pleaded with the Eastern Regional Minister and the members of the Regional Security Council to as a matter of urgency provide them with a bore hole.

“The problem we have here is with water. We do not have water and it is a challenge for us. As you can see, it is ‘kufuor gallons’ we are using here. We travel with our car to a far away community from here to fetch water into the gallons on a daily basis to cook, drink and bath before we go to work, and this is not helping us.”

Chief Inspector Albert Abalem again requested for a pick up to help with their operations.

“Another problem we have is with our car, we have only one pick-up and it is not helping our work because when the pick up leaves for patrols we do not have a back up for emergencies so we are pleading with the assembly to help us with a pick up to enhance our operations.”

The Eastern Regional Police Commander, DCOP Samuel Afeku, on his part promised to work on the issues raised by the police personnel.

“I assure you that your concerns have been well noted and they will be channeled to the appropriate authorities to be addressed immediately for you to get whatever you require and to be able to work effectively and carry out your mandate here.”

The Eastern Regional Minister, Eric Kwakye Darfour, also gave the personnel an assurance that the Kwahu East District Assembly will take pragmatic steps to address their water problem in the shortest possible time.

These problems and concerns raised by the police personnel on duty paints exactly the gloomy picture of the kind of problems teachers, and health workers who are posted to work at these deprived villages face on a daily basis.

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By: Neil Nii Amatey Kanarku/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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