Speaker Justice Joyce Bamford-Addo
ALBAN BAGBIN and Dan Botwe, Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing; and Member of Parliament (MP) for Okere, have asked Parliament to invite the security agencies to explain why they have not been able to deal with unlawful activities of Fulani herdsmen in the country, as the house sets up a nine-man committee to probe the activities of the attackers.
The two lawmakers slammed the National Security for not being able to deal with Fulani herdsmen who have held farmers to ransom over the years, adding it was about time the security services answered to the representatives of the people why they are not able to stop the gun-wielding Fulani men from terrorizing farmers across the country.
“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,” Dan Botwe quizzed in Parliament yesterday.
Supporting the Okere MP, Bagbin, who is also the MP for Nadowli West fumed, “The country cannot be run over by cattlemen wielding cudgels, rickety guns; terrorizing our farmers and destroying their crops with impunity.”
Pouring his frustration, he indicated that after engaging jobless National Democratic Congress (NDC) foot-soldiers to cultivate a maize farm with his hard-earned money at Agogo in the Ashanti region, Fulani herdsmen grazed their cattle on the farm produce.
“All my maize I harvested was eaten by the cattle of these Fulani men and I did not get even one bag,” Hon. Bagbin lamented.
The Water Resources, Works and Housing Minister indicated his calls on the Ministry of Defence to intervene on the matter did not yield any positive results, after similar appeals to the Paramount chief of Agogo had failed.
Dan Botwe and Bagbin were contributing to a statement on the floor of Parliament by MP for Abetifi, Peter Wiafe Pepera, who lamented that the township of Dwerebease in his constituency was invaded by gun-brandishing Fulani herdsmen.
Following a request by the three MPs, Speaker Justice Joyce Bamford-Addo directed the leadership of the House to institute a nine-member Committee to investigate the unlawful activities of Fulani herdsmen and report back to the House during the next meeting.
Members of the Committee, she further directed, should include the MPs whose areas are most affected by the illegal activities of the Fulani herdsmen.
According to Mr. Pepera, the herdsmen are grazing their cattle on farm lands of the people in the community.
“..Since this calamitous tsunami-like invasion of their lands by these marauding Fulani herdsmen, most inhabitants now live in abject fear of visiting their farms for the necessary planting/weeding/harvesting activities,” Mr. Pepera disclosed.
The female population of the town, he bemoaned, have ceased their farming activities completely for fear of rape or other molestation.
According to Mr. Pepera, one person has already died in recent times, with another person narrowly escaping a shooting incident as others have suffered major injuries as a result of clashes between the herdsmen and the youth from the community.
Later, Parliament went on recess after 11 weeks of marathon work, during which six bills were passed including the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill.
The House is expected to resume on May 17, 2011, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
In their closing remarks, Speaker Bamford-Addo, Majority Leader Cletus Avoka and Minority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu all thanked members for working diligently to promote the country’s parliamentary democracy.
By Awudu Mahama
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