The two Police Officers were shot dead on January 11, 2018, when they were returning from night patrol duties in the town.

“They were ambushed. They went on patrol and on their way back to Kumawu, part of the road had been blocked so when they stopped then they fired at them,” Ashanti Regional Police Commander, COP Ken Yeboah told Citi News in an interview.

Speaking on the Point Blank segment on Eyewitness News on Thursday, Director-General of Public Affairs at the Ghana Police Service, ACP David Eklu, said they are convinced that the six suspects they’ve arrested were those who killed the two officers at Drobonso.

[contextly_sidebar id=”OmBwVVTUhSM6CM6QRkTFZ5I6X7es564Q”]“Six people have been arrested, and we have strong evidence that they were the ones who were connected with the killing of two of our officers –an inspector and a constable, and as I speak, they are before the law court,” he added.

War on herdsmen in Agogo and Sekyere Afram Plains

Ghana’s security chiefs have waged war on herdsmen  at Agogo in the Asante Akim North District, and in the Sekyere Afram Plains District following complaints largely from Agogo, that their farms are being destroyed by cattle, and they are also being attacked by the herdsmen.

In view of this, a joint military and police task-force dubbed Operation Cowleg, was deployed to the two towns to flush out the herdsmen from those areas.

The task-force recently recorded some setbacks after four of their members were shot and injured by unknown assailants in Agogo.

In response, additional 200 personnel were dispatched to augment the work of Operation Cowleg.

ACP Eklu noted that, the work of the task-force is progressing steadily “and the feedback we are getting is that, most of the herdsmen have relocated to another area.”

“This is a task-force and a task-force has a specific assignment. When issues happen, you send officers there to stabilize the situation, and at least give some confidence to the public to allow other agencies to work towards a permanent solution, and that is what we are doing at Agogo. We hope that the task that the officers have been assigned to do will pave way for a more comprehensive solution to the problem in Agogo,” he added.

Background

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.

Indigenes of Agogo and its environs for the past years have accused herdsmen of allowing their cattle to graze and destroy farmlands which are their only source of livelihood.

Some indigenes and herdsmen have died in a number of eruptions of violence related to the tensions.

As a result, a team comprising police and military officers were deployed to the town to evict the herdsmen.

We’ll respond to attacks by Agogo herdsmen

The Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant Gen. O. B Akwa, had earlier assured the people of Agogo that the task-force will push through their mandate until the issue is resolved.

According to him, they have the backing of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces to ensure that the objectives for the formation of the task-force are achieved.

“We shall be unrelenting in this assignment until we bring it to a closure,” he said.

Over 20,000 cattle ‘flushed out’ of Agogo

The Municipal Chief Executive of Asante Akyem North in the Ashanti Region, Francis Oti Boateng, has said almost half of the over 45,000 cattle that invaded Agogo and its surrounding areas have been taken out of the area.

He attributed the success to the diligence of government’s task-force known as Operation Cowleg.

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.

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

The post 6 arrested for allegedly killing 2 cops at Drobonso 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
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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.

–

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.

This is in collaboration with Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) and Citi FM.

This is the third parliamentary debate, organized in the Ashanti region. The debates have been held in Bekwai and Obuasi East constituencies.

The seat of Member of Parliament for the Sekyere Afram Plains is being keenly contested by Joseph Gyamfi Owusu, Peter Marfo and Alex Adomako, the incumbent, on the ticket of NPP, GCPP and the NDC respectively.

The debate saw Joseph Gyamfi Owusu and Peter Marfo debating on issues affecting people in the Sekyere Afram Plains constituency.

The debate covered wide-ranging sectors including local governance, youth unemployment, sanitation, gender,  peace and security and Oil and Gas.

Disability

Both aspirants promised to implement the Disability law by ensuring accessibility to public and private facilities includimh hotels, churches, schools and buses

in the Sekyere Afram Constituency.

Sanitation

Both aspirants promised to recycle waste generated by indigenes to improve sanitation.

Gender

Joseph Gyamfi Owusu said, women though need to be empowered to take up key positions and to go into agriculture, also have to be supported in areas of their interest. He added that women need to be given farm implements and the best of seeds for their crops.

Peter Marfo noted that women in agriculture should be given flexible loans to motivate them.

CODEO is organizing parliamentary debates across the country in selected constituencies on the theme “Election 2016: Promoting issue based debate and post-election accountability at the constituency level.”

The parliamentary debate seeks to ease the growing tension in the build up to the 2016 elections by streamlining campaign messages of political aspirants to focus on pertinent policy issues affecting the vulnerable groups in the 60 purposive selected constituencies, out of which 6 are in the Ashanti region.

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By: Lauretta Timah/citifmonline.com

The post Sekyere Afram Plains parliamentary aspirants debate appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.