Let's not profile Fulanis - Mahama tells Ghanaians

Europa

April 15, 2016 12:28 AM

Youth in the town took to the streets on Tuesday to register their displeasure at government’s failure to address the issue of the nomadic herdsmen and to compel government to act on a court directive to drive out the nomads.

President John Mahama has urged Ghanaians not to profile the Fulani community in Ghana following clashes between local farmers and the nomadic herdsmen.

"...We shouldn’t profile because we normally use the name of a particular ethnic group… it’s not about the ethnic group, it’s about the herdsmen and the confrontation they are creating with our farmers because we need the maize, we need the beans, those crops to feed. So, if the animals are destroying them, it must be a concern,” he said on Koforidua-based Sunrise FM on Thursday April 14 as part of his ‘Accounting to the People Tour’ in the Eastern region.

The herdsmen, mainly Fulani, have incurred the wrath of local farmers, who have accused them of destroying farms and water sources with their cattle.

Two months ago, the traditional council of the area, issued an ultimatum to the herdsmen to vacate the area by March 31 but residents argue that the Fulani herdsmen are still in the enclave destroying farms and tormenting farmers.

Youth in the town took to the streets on Tuesday to register their displeasureat government’s failure to address the issue of the nomadic herdsmen and to compel government to act on a court directive to drive out the nomads.

President Mahama has subsequently assured affected farmers and residents that national security would draw up a strategy to deal with the menace across the country.

“Government has deployed security forces to push them back, but after a while, they drift back into the area where there is conflict between them and the farmers. And, so, government will do that again and make the CDS (Chief of Defence Staff), the army commander, and the Inspector General of Police go to Agogo and look at the situation there and I’ve told them to come up with an operational plan to resolve the issue,” the president added.

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