Fulani herdsmen exploiting weakness of the State to check them

Pindaa(UE), Feb. 14, GNA - The Pindaa community in the Kassena-Nankana East District of the Upper East Region, have appealed to the government to check the activities of Fulani herdsmen whose cattle have contaminated thei= r only source of water.

A visit by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to the community at the week en= d revealed that the only dam, which the community use for farming and domesti= c purposes have been taken over by the Fulani herdsmen and their cattle. Cow dung and urine have infested the dam and left an unpleasant smell in the community, whilst excessive pressure on the water body is drying it up. Mr Kofi Wadia a former assemblyman, told the GNA that people who drunk from the dam were developing water born diseases.

He alleged that the herdsmen were stealing their livestock and cutting down their shea trees to feed their cattle, especially during the dry season. Mr Wadia claimed that they also set bush fires to facilitate the growing of fresh grass to feed their herd.

An environmentalist, Mr Andrew Dakurugu asked the District Assembly to deal with the Fulani menace as a matter of priority.

The Project Officer of the Gia/Nabio Agro-forestry Development Organisation, Mr Julius Awaregyae, proposed the levying of taxes on the herdsmen as its being done in neighbouring Burkina Faso, for the rehabilitation of the dam and the construction of another facility. "At times they are even made to contribute towards the construction of dams or rehabilitate existing ones (in Burkina Faso) before their cattle ar= e allowed to drink from such sources," he stressed.

Mr Awaregyae noted that the presence of the Fulani herdsmen in the community was robbing the people of their basic human rights. Meanwhile some young men in the community have given the district assembly a one month ultimatum to solve the problem or else they would rise against the Fulani herdsmen and take to the street in protest for their rights.