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The conflict between Fulani pastoralists and the majority Ghanaian population who of course are settled communities appear to have no end in sight. Government officials both past and present have expressed desperation and frustration at their own inability to deal with the menace. In a Ghana News Agency report of July 27th this year, ACP K. Gyamera-Aboagye, the Eastern Regional Police Commander reminded the public that security measures alone could not solve the problem. He supported his assertion by quoting the failure of ‘Operation Cowleg’ (the two military operations aimed at flushing out Fulani herdsmen in 1999/2000).
Four months earlier parliamentarians, prominent among them Honourable Dan Botwe, Member of Parliament for Okere in the Eastern Region and Honorable Alan S. Bagbin, a Minister of State had requested for answers from the national security apparatus regarding the apparent failure of the state to tackle the issue.
“What is the use of National Security in the country if it cannot even prevent the Fulani herdsmen from destroying farm produce and attacking farmers,” Hon.DanBotwe was reported by the Daily Guide newspaper to have quizzed in Parliament. Clearly, the lawmakers appeared frustrated as recent reports of the atrocities committed by the Fulani pastoralists seem unmatched in scale and nature in the history of Ghana.
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In February 2010, Bajin D. Pobia of the Ghana News Agency described how the social and economic activities of almost all communities in the Upper West Region have been curtailed by the Nomads. ‘Going to the bush to fetch shea nuts, baobab or dawadawa for home consumption is now dreaded by the women least they end up being raped. Young boys can no longer go into the bush for rats. Yam, cassava and millet that are left in farm houses are broken into by the Fulani for their animals to feed on. Economic trees such as Shea are being slashed for fodder. Water sources are drying up and even ant hills are being converted to cattle feed when the Fulani pours salted water on it’, Pobia recounted. The northern regions will soon properly be part of the Sahara with the help of the Fulani.
In the Begoro area of the Eastern Region, a Fulani herdsman allegedly ‘spoke’ to the cattle to gore to death, the passenger of a taxi which had hit one of the cows. Agogo in Ashanti Region has made various allegations including rape and murder against the Fulani. Barely does an armed robbery case passes these days without a Fulani as a suspect. Indeed, there is the feeling of an armed invasion by the Fulani in large sections of the Ghanaian society. Many people have called for forced expulsion. To where? Well, when you push an old lady you care less where she falls. Incidentally the Fulani are no pushovers and the last time an operation cowleg was done, they came marching right back in a few days into the country. Is the menace peculiar to Ghana? What is it about Ghana and the Fulani?
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According to the African guide, a medium devoted to African Peoples and their cultures, the Fulani are the largest nomadic group in the world. A Christian group, Fulani Ministries which is trying to Christianize the group says that the Fulani are about 99% Moslems and can be found in 19 countries across Africa. A recent workshop organized by the West African Network for Peace Building in Burkina Faso saw Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria and the host country seriously represented and deliberating on the Fulani issue. In all these countries including the Senegambia area where they are among the ruling groups, the Fulani can be found in significant numbers.
Other West African Nomadic groups are the Tuaregsof Mali, Niger, Sudan etc and the Bedouin of Sudanand a better part of the Middle East. Indeed there are still significant numbers of nomads in Russia and its former satellite states, Greenland and even what has become known as modern day nomads in Western Europe. Irish Travellers, a group of Nomadic people of Irish origin can be found in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States. In almost all these societies, there is constant conflict between the nomads and settled peoples; one of the latest in Western Europe which attracted the displeasure of the United Nations being the attempt by the local government of Basildon (East London) to forcefully evict a group of Irish Travellers. Nomadism therefore is not peculiar to the Fulani and the animosity between nomads and settled communities is not restricted to Ghana.
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The fundamental problem however in all societies between nomads and settled peoples is the struggle over scarce natural resources. Generally speaking, Nomads have a lesser appreciation for landed property rights which is a cornerstone value in all settled communities and the so called civilized societies. Thus there is usually the fundamental problem of land that nomads feel they could use at any time and for any purpose. Settled peoples would want have none of that. Conflict!
In the Ghanaian context however, the issue appear to have gone beyond a struggle over natural resources. When a weapon wielding Fulani rapes women of all ages or engages in armed robbery, what is natural resource about it? A crime is a crime. The Fulani may have a problem with property rights but surely he does well understand the meaning of marriage. And this is where the failure of the state to protect its citizens comes to the fore. If an American rapes in Ghana, he faces the law. A Ghanaian is not spared for breaking the law. If an Ibo ,Yuroba, Mossi or Nzema commits an offence in Ghana, he is tried so why should the Fulani be different? Anybody in the state who offends the laws of the state must be charged accordingly be they nationals or not and whatever their mode of living.
In the Ghanaian context, there have been allegations of ultra right wing elements using the Fulani to propagate xenophobia. This school of thought says that the Fulani is being overly flogged by public sentiment because they lack sufficient political voice in the Ghanaian society. To them, once the Fulani get expelled by the neo-conservatives, another group may be targeted sooner than later and the state is headed for disintegration and or degeneration.But not much proof has been provided to back this. On the other hand the evidence against the Fulani in the court of public opinion appears overwhelming and incontrovertible.
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It is possible to solve the Fulani puzzle both in the short, medium and long term. In the short term, discrimination must be abhorred both in the distribution of resources and justice. All must be equal before the law; the Fulani, Asante , Ewe , Ga…all.
In the medium to long term, it must be state policy that Nomadic Pastoralism is simply unsustainable in the 21st Century. Nomadic pastoralism must be stopped. The practice is just not sustainable in the face of climate change and climate variability around the globe. Chiefs, landowners and cattle farmers must be taken through modern animal husbandry. The state must then ensure that all animals slaughtered in abattoirs around the country are those raised on farms and not those grazed in the wild. This will boost the industry, create jobs, generate taxes and ensure good health.This calls for partnership with Non-governmental organizations and the international development community.
In the long term, West African countries and indeed all of Africa must confront the Sahara instead of allowing the Sahara to confront us as it is today. Afforestation programs in Ghana will not benefit Ghana much if not done in concert with Burkina Faso, Mali and indeed all countries bordering the Sahara and beyond.The Sahara must be pushed back and this should be led by ECOWAS and the Regional blocs within the African union. Yes, there must be action at the local level but if not coordinated across the continent, it will be like using a mud wall for sea defence.
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The Fulani must become like all settled Africans such as his kinsmen in Sokoto and Dakar , the state must protect its peoples, multi-state institutions must deal with the Sahara and animal husbandry should become an agricultural policy.
*Kwaku Forson-Asimenu*
*[email protected]*
*0244990536*