THE Abuakwa North Municipal Security Council (MUSEC) in the Eastern Region has given herdsmen in the area a four-day ultimatum to leave.

The council said failure on the part of the herdsmen to heed the call would compel the assembly to take drastic measures to drive them away.

The herdsmen settled in the area with their cattle after fleeing from another community in the region.

The Abuakwa North Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Alhaji Umar Baba Bodinga, gave the ultimatum at a press conference organised in collaboration with traditional rulers and farmers in the area in Kukurantumi last Wednesday.

Context

Last week, there was a clash between the herdsmen and the people of Maame Krobo over the continuous destruction of crops by the cattle.

In the process, one person died, while properties were destroyed, compelling the herdsmen to relocate to the Abuakwa North municipality with their cattle.

Alhaji Bodinga said farmers in the area had notified the assembly about how the influx of the herdsmen and their cattle was destroying their farms and stressed that the assembly would not sit unconcerned for any eventuality to happen.

According to the MCE, who is also the Chairman of the MUSEC, the cattle had already begun destroying crops and polluting water bodies.

“We have learnt about what the herdsmen and their cattle have done in Agogo, Afram Plains South, Afram Plains North and Fanteakwa North, which led to clashes with the people, resulting in some deaths and the destruction of properties.

“We will, therefore, not allow the herdsmen to be here; as such they must leave within four days or we will flush them out,” he said.

No approval

Alhaji Bodinga further said neither the assembly nor the Chief of Kukurantumi, Daasebre Boamah Darko II, had given the herdsmen approval to be in the area.

The Kukurantumihene, he said, had rather warned his sub-chiefs not to entertain any herdsmen and their cattle.

The Chairman of the Kukurantumi Farmers Association, Emmanuel Kudjoe, told the Daily Graphic that a female farmer who had seen one of the herdsmen on her farm and questioned him was allegedly warned by the herdsman.

He expressed fear that women could be raped by the herdsmen on their farms.

The Odikro of Sokode Juaso, a farming community near Kukurantumi, Nana Atuahene Ankomah, claimed that the number of cattle sent to the area last year was about 5,000, but that it had now increased to about 10,000.

Source: graphiconline.com