Members of Parliament (MPs) have urged the three arms of government to urgently intensify their collaboration to stop the escalating threats herdsmen are posing to the peace and security in farming communities across the country.

They said since the movement of nomadic herdsmen was unregulated, their activities had increasingly been characterised by lawlessness and violence.

As a consequence, they said, vulnerable farmers, particularly women, were faced with persistent threats of vandalism of their farmlands and were being maimed, raped and killed. 

Time

Contributing to a statement by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Nsuta/Kwaman Beposo, Adelaide Ntim, on the destruction of farmlands by some Fulani herdsmen in her constituency, the MPs said it was time the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary instituted immediate measures to regulate the activities of the herdsmen.

Escalating crisis

Ms Ntim, told the House that the peace, safety and the very way of life of her constituents had come under threat.

For instance, in communities such as Atonsu, Esereso, Jeduako, Dagaati, Kokomba, Oku and Ete, the presence of Fulani herdsmen was increasingly associated with a series of criminal activities.

“The widespread destruction of farms, lands and property, the persistent threat of vandalism and reported incidents of rape are deeply worrying.

“The formation and operation of dangerous gangs and the overall pervasive atmosphere of fear and panic is unacceptable,” she said.

Ms Ntim indicated that the constituents of Atonsu in particular, in their desperation and helplessness, held a public demonstration recently to express their worries and to call for immediate and effective solutions to their difficulties.

“The people of Jeduako have had to endure the cruel and horrifying incidents of rape and extreme violence.

“Mr Speaker, the presence of these Fulani herdsmen has transformed our peaceful constituency into a region gripped by fear and this displacement of the residents is disrupting the social life of the community,” she said.

The MP, however, expressed deep appreciation that a section of the herdsmen lived in peace among her constituents, contributing positively to society and respecting laws.

Law  

In a contribution, the NDC MP for Sawla/Tuna/Kalba, Andrew Chiwitey, said not all Fulani herdsmen took proper care of their animals, a reason lasting solution must be found to the threats herdsmen posed to farmers.

In his view, some herdsmen had become a nuisance to farmers whose farms across the country were being destroyed by cattle belonging to Fulanis.

“We all depend on food to survive and our farmers also depend on their farms to survive, send their children to school, and take care of their hospital bills.

“And so, every person that keeps animals must be guided; let us have a law to protect our farmers from these herdsmen,” he said.

Urgent

A Deputy Minister for the Interior, Naana Eyiah, admitted that the activities of some Fulani herdsmen in farming communities needed to be addressed urgently.

She said the threats to life, property, peace, security and the livelihoods of individuals in some communities were “very, very alarming”.

She said while the Ministry of the Interior and the police were doing their best to protect lives and properties, Parliament and other authorities must send a strong signal to the herdsmen for them to know “where to go and where not to go”.

“Even when they are destroying some of our rivers and you confront them, the problems and the fight they give to the communities is bad.

“I think Mr Speaker, the House will take some measures as the Ministry of the Interior and the police are doing their part,” she said.

 National

The NDC MP for Tema East, Isaac Odmantten, said the House must be concerned with the repeated ills around the herdsmen whose activities affected agriculture, with recorded cases of maiming, raping and killing farmers.

He, therefore, called for a national discourse on how best to contain the challenges livestock posed to farmers.

SOURCE: GraphicOnline