The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Wenchi in the Bono Region, Dr. Prince Kwakye Afriyie has issued a stern warning to traditional leaders and middlemen whom he claims are aiding nomadic herdsmen to come to the area.
The Amponsahkrom Electoral Area in the Wenchi Municipality is currently under siege by nomadic herdsmen who are allegedly destroying water bodies and farm produce.
Communities worse affected include Winamda, Ehiamankye, Nsuta, Boase, and Wiafe.
Speaking to Citi News, the MCE said his outfit would ensure the law deals with people who are aiding the herdsmen.
“Under the Presidency of Akufo-Addo, there is already a national security directive. Wherever these nomadic herdsmen are sighted, they should be driven back to where they came from. The local police are in charge. Right now, they are in Ewusa. We need the cooperation of nananom and the opinion leaders there and we are going to change the strategy. The strategy this time is not going to dialogue with them. It is trying to get these middlemen arrested and prosecuted.”
“I believe that will serve as a deterrent. We are trying to get nananom involved. We are trying to inform the traditional council to advise their members to desist from that. Because crime is a crime no matter who committed it. Once you have committed a crime, the law will deal with you,” he remarked.
Parliament’s report on herdsmen
The Defence and Interior Committee of Parliament last year recommended that the agencies that are at the country’s borders should subject nomadic herdsmen to stringent checks before they enter the country.
This recommendation was part of a report that was presented to the House on October 29, 2019.
The committee worked for over two years probing the operations of nomadic herdsmen and was to come out with recommendations on how to help curb the conflicts between herders and farming communities.
Demonstration against herdsmen
In 2018, the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) participated in a peaceful march organized in the Northern Regional capital Tamale in frustration over the activities of some nomadic herdsmen in the Region.
In a petition, they mentioned the destruction of farmlands as well as the killing and raping of women peasant farmers as some of the nagging concerns that required immediate attention.
The Association’s leadership thus appealed to the government to consider the situation as a national security threat and work towards permanently solving the problem.