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.

This incident comes a day after the Eastern Regional Security Council REGSEC visited the affected communities to interact with the people, farmers, chiefs and the leadership of the Fulanis to dialogue and find lasting solutions to the reprisal attacks.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Bj199VGbJAoqKlUit3SziNaU4kBbIrX6″]The two, Fuseini Adama 32, and Sadibe Adama, 38, were allegedly subjected to beatings after being rounded up by some youth whilst returning from the bush to the town on their motorbike at Hweehwee.

But for the timely intervention of the police patrol team which has been deployed there from the Police headquarters last week, the situation would have gotten out of hands.

Recent reprisal attacks between the nomadic herdsmen and some farmers in the Kwahu East District, which led to the death of 8 people and several others fleeing their homes and work places, has heightened tension in the area, forcing the deployment of 85 police personnel to ensure law and order.

The Eastern Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Ebenezer Tetteh, who confirmed the latest incident to Citi News, said the Police operational team went through a torrid time saving the victims.

“At about 17:30 hours, the Police Patrol team returning from Sempoa area reported that, on reaching Hweehwee township, they encountered a rampaging youth numbering about 300 who were attempting to lynch two Fulani men, who were on motorbike returning from Sempoa heading towards Nkawkaw.”

“The patrol team in their bid to save the two Fulani men had it very difficult so two other teams who were on standby upon receiving the information quickly proceeded to the scene to rescue the victims.”

Asp Ebenezer Tetteh explained how the angry mob resisted the Police from saving the situation.

“The operation teams had it very hectic controlling the situation as the rampaging youth rather vented their anger on the Police and poured an itching substance “apia” on both their bodies and the vehicles.”

The District Chief Executive and the Assembly member of the area, were contacted on phone to talk to the opinion leaders in the town to calm the situation.”

Asp Ebenezer Tetteh disclosed that, the victims have been issued with Police medical forms to go to the hospital.

“The victims who were molested were released to seek medical attention at Holy Family Hospital at Nkawkaw, and have been asked to report back to the station to assist with further investigations.”

ASP Ebenezer Tetteh pleaded with the general public not to take the law into their own hands.

“I will use this medium to appeal to the general public and local residents not to take the laws into the hands. The police are here to help; and we plead that in situations like this, they should call us and we will come to take over.”
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By: Neil Nii Amatey Kanarku/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post 2 nomadic herdsmen escape lynching in E/Region appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, the current number of officers deployed to maintain law and order in the region is inadequate.

[contextly_sidebar id=”7mWN7qEye81MUiGBlMlBgP6pfrJf3Dbe”]Speaking on Eyewitness News on Thursday, Mr. Kwakye Darfour said there was the need for reinforced security presence to avert a possible recurrence of violent clashes between nomadic herdsmen and residents.

“Operation Cow leg which was instituted; Cow leg 1,2,3,4 what did it bring to us? We are saying that now, the 85 people [Police officers] on the ground, we believe that looking at the vastness of the area, it is not enough, so government should come in and help us raise the level of the operation,” he said.

8 persons including 5 Fulani herdsmen were killed in an attack, and counter attacks in separate incidents at Dwebease and Hweehwee in the Eastern Region.

The incident renewed discussions about the relationship between local residents and nomadic herdsmen in various parts of the country, including Yendi, where 3 people were killed last week in a Fulani-locals clash.

A Medical doctor at the Kwahu Government Hospital, Dr. Akoto Ampaw, recently lamented the number of gunshot cases and subsequent deaths the hospital has been attending to in recent times, following the recent clashes.

“The situation is very worrying because as medical practitioners we are called to attend to people who have been shot and sometimes people have been attacked with other implements. I can confirm that most of the bodies have been deposited at the hospital. Quite a number of them, I can recall just in the immediate past week, I have had the opportunity to attend to three gunshot injuries in the area,” he said in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show.

Reports indicate that, some students in the Kwahu East Municipality had abandoned classes due to the unstable security situation as some residents have fled to other communities.

But the Regional Minister, Mr. Kwakye Darfour, believes that proposals for the reintroduction of ‘operation cow leg’ to address the situation, will succeed only when more security officers are deployed to the trouble spots in the region to increase patrols and guarantee the safety of lives and property.

“There is some kind of urgency now, that is why we want to heighten it a bit, get more men, so we can do more patrols, otherwise we cannot predict when somebody would want to fight. The 85 men are not enough,” he said.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post More security officers needed to tackle nomadic herdsmen menace – Minister appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

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.

But speaking at a press conference to address the recent clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers at Dwebease and Hweehwee which led to the death of 5 Fulani’s and 3 locals, the Eastern Regional Minister, Eric Kwakye Darfour, stated that a number of action plans have been adopted by REGSEC for consideration.

The Minister, who is automatically the Head of the Eastern Regional Security Council, expressed concern about the recent happenings in the Kwahu East District, saying, “I must say we are not happy at all with these reprisal attacks which has led to the loss of lives. Every individual in this country’s matters, and as such we will ensure that the right things are done.”

“On the whole, the killings in Kwahu East were unfortunate, but the security will work around the clock to stem the situation in the area.”

The resolutions reached at the REGSEC meeting are as follows:

1. Hold a press briefing to inform all about the current state of affairs in Kwahu East, and also allay the fears of the inhabitants in the area that the security in the region is handling the issue to ensure their safety.

2. Members of the REGSEC will also visit the affected areas in Kwahu East on Monday 6th November, 2017. As part of the visit, another meeting with the Fulani leadership in Kwahu, Chiefs, Farmers and other stakeholders will be held to further discuss the issue.

3. A proposal for addressing the Fulani menace submitted to REGSEC by the Kwahu Hene will be looked into.

4. Operation Cow leg to the Rescue – Council is of the opinion that if funds could be made available for the Operation CowLeg just as it’s being done for Operation Vanguard, a lot could be achieved. REGSEC will propose it to National security for consideration.

5. REGSEC considering the need to revive the the fodder bank system and possibly propose to government to create a fodder bank around the Dwerebease enclave.

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

The post E/Region: Operation cow leg returning to fight fulani menace appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

She finished 2^nd in her heat in a time of 24.05 seconds  as the race was won by England’s Jodie Williams in a time of 23.42 seconds.

Amponsah thus qualifies for Thursday’s semi-finals.

Gemma Acheampong could not join Janet as she  finished 5^th in the women’s 200m heats in a time of 24.90 seconds. The race was won by Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbere in a time of 22.90 seconds.

Doreen Agyei was unsuccessful in her bid after finishing 5^th in her 200m heat in a time of 25.27 seconds. Jamaica’s Anneisha McClaughlin won the race with a time of 23.27 seconds

Jodie Williams won the heat in 23.42 seconds

Ghana’s Mary Narteh finished 11^th in the women’s javelin with a throw of 48.23 metres. The event was won by Australia’s Kim Mickle with a throw of 65.96 seconds.

In Badminton, Ghana’s Daniel Sam and Emmanuel Donkor lost to Canada’s Adrian Liu and Derrick Ng in the men’s Doubles Round of 32 by 21-7 and 21-12

The women did not do better in the doubles match as they lost to Australia.

Stella Amasah and Evelyn Botwe lost to New Zealand’s Anna Rankin and Madeleine Stapleton  21-10, 21-3

By: Nathan Quao/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Commonwealth Games update: Amponsah makes 200m semi-final, more slips in badminton appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.