Fulanis to petition Mahama, UN over injustice

The Fulani community in Ghana says it intends to petition President Mahama and the UN Secretary General Ban Kin Moon over what they describe as injustices being meted out to them in the country.

At a news conference on Thursday in Accra, the community of nomadic cattle herders stated traditional authorities in some areas they have settled have not been kind to them.

The Fulanis have been blamed for a number of attacks and destruction to property in parts of the country with farmers in the Ashanti region particularly Agogo most affected.

In 2012, a high court in Kumasi ruled that the herdsmen be evicted from the region by the Asante regional Security Council. Three years on the eviction is gaining momentum again following recent clashes between natives and the normads.
But President of the Fulani settlers Association of Ghana says they have been misunderstood.

Farmers in Agogo and other farming communities in the Ashanti and Eastern regions particularly have been up in arms calling on the Regional Security Council to implement the judgment of the high court, by evicting the Fulani herdsmen in those areas.

The natives allege, the herdsmen have been causing havoc on crops and forest plantations as well as terrorize the people with impunity.

The president of the Fulani community however says, plans to evict them are against the UN convention. In an interview with JoyNews, president of the Fulani settlers association in Ghana, Osmanu Barr said, they have finalize documents to petition president Mahama, the African Union, and the UN Secretary General Ban Kin Moon.

Some Fulanis present at the news conference expressed their displeasure about the chaos in Agogo and other areas allegedly involving some of their brothers. One of the normads who had travelled from the troubled region told Joy News Latif Iddris in an interview that some military officers have taken advantage of the situation to rob them off their cows.

Osmanu Barr, however, called for calm as they work towards a lasting solution to the problem.

adomfmonline