NDC to earmark grazing zones, water bodies for cattle — Mahama

The Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress(NDC), former President John Dramani Mahama, has stated that the next NDC government will earmark specific grazing zones and construct water bodies for cattle.

That, he said, would end the regular confusion that erupted between Fulani herdsmen and farmers as a result of complaints of the destruction of farmers’ crops by cattle.

He said it would construct modern cattle markets and abattoirs in Buipe and Accra to create easy access to markets for herdsmen as well as improve on livestock trade in the country.

“Population growth in the country has created a situation that has restricted areas that were formerly grazing areas of cattle so most of these areas are being used for residential purposes, so now the animals don’t get place to graze and this is one of the reasons why there is often confusion between herdsmen and the public, especially farmers, so we intend to earmark grazing zones for them to curb this menace,” he noted.

Annual prayers

He was speaking at the ninth annual prayer and conference of the Tabital Pulaaku International, an association of Fulanis in the Country in Buipe last Saturday, on the theme “Peaceful Prayer Towards Election 2020 and Beyond”.

The event brought together Fulanis with the view of drumming home the need for peace as the country goes to the polls on December 7, 2020, as well as draw attention to some disturbing developments against the Fulanis and measures that would result in behavioural change and protection for the fundamental human rights of Fulanis in Ghana.

Among the dignitaries that graced the occasion were the Paramount Chief of the Buipe Traditional Area, Buipewura Abdulai Jinapor, President of the Fulani Council of chiefs, Alhaji Bingle, the Member of Parliament for Yapei/Kusogu, Mr John Jinapor, the Savannah Regional Minister, Mr Adam Briamah.

Peaceful Coexistence

Mr Mahama called for tolerance and peaceful co-existence between Fulanis and members of the communities in which they operated.

He said many Fulanis in the country had been confronted with discrimination and were sometimes prevented from taking part in national events although they had been part of the Ghana since the 18th Century.

Stereotyping

For his part, the General Secretary of Tabital Pulaaku, Mr Yakubu Musah Barry, expressed worry about the continued ill treatment meted out to Fulanis by a section of the public and the security services because they were often tagged as a “very dangerous tribe”.

“Crime is a very important subject that cannot be ignored, especially in an era where Fulanis are tagged as a very dangerous tribe, this is an unfortunate situation which must be addressed since crime is crime and anybody who commits crime, whether a Fulani or other tribe, must be dealt with as an individual not as a tribe,” he said.

Education

For his part, Buipewura Jinapor encouraged the Fulani community in the country to take full advantage of the government’s Free Senior High School (FSHS) programme and other interventions in the educational sector to educate their children to make them responsible citizens in future.