Managing the Fulani problem

FOR sometime now, Ghanaians living in parts of the Brong Ahafo Region and the three Northern Regions have become subjects of intimidation and harassment, especially at the hands of Fulani herdsmen. These Fulani herdsmen, who are mainly foreigners, have taken advantage of the typical Ghanaian hospitality, and perpetuated heinous crimes against their hosts.
THE attacks by these herdsmen on Ghanaians have been increasing with each passing day and from what is happening on the ground there is no sign that it will end soon. This is further evident against the fact that the country has also been lax in addressing this issue.

INDEED, for us on this paper it beats our imagination and cannot fathom why as a nation we continue to allow foreigners to intimidate and perpetuate crimes against our own people. That is most ridiculous! To state it bluntly what is happening to Ghanaians in the said regions cannot happen even in some African countries.

IT is against this backdrop that we at TODAY wholeheartedly support the statement made by the Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister Eric Opoku on the matter. In the Thursday, Feb., 4, 2010, issue of the state-owned Daily Graphic, the deputy regional minister cautioned nationals from the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), especially Fulanis in the country, to live within the confines of the Ghanaian law.

HONOURABLE Opoku warned that any crime committed by Fulani herdsmen will not be countenanced and characters that perpetuate such crimes will be made to face the full rigours of the law. The minister obviously was not happy with the way many of the Fulani herdsmen have taken our laws into their own hands and were doing things on the contrary. That is something that should be of concern to all of us.

AND at TODAY we believe that it was in the light of averting a situation where these Fulani herdsmen will not have it easy in the country if they continued with their activities that the deputy regional minister entreated them to respect Ghana’s laws and co-exist with their Ghanaian hosts. We think this is a good piece of advice that they [Fulanis] must heed and take seriously.
THEY must acknowledge that they are in a country which is governed by the principle of rule of law. And that therefore makes it incumbent upon them to respect our laws and not to trample on our laws with impunity.

AS a nation we must also take steps to deal with the Fulani issue and not sweep it under the carpet. In fact, our inability to address this problem explains why we always hear Fulanis committing more serious crimes against Ghanaians. At least if our law enforcement agencies have taken up the matter we will not be seeing the astronomical increase in crimes committed by these foreign nationals.

WE sincerely hope that the caution by the deputy regional minister would not be a mere rhetoric as it has been the approach in most cases. The issue of Fulanis needs a swift response by government to prevent future occurrences of this nature. A word to a wise is enough.