The Municipal Security Council (MUSEC) in the Keta Municipality of the Volta region has restored peace between farmers and herders at Tsiame after months of disturbances in the area.
Mr Emmanuel Gemega, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Keta, addressing the disputants at Abor, said it was necessary to resolve the dispute and the misunderstanding between the two parties for peace to prevail.
Mr Gemega who is also the Chairman of MUSEC, urged the agitated farmers due to the destruction caused by the herders to lodge a formal complaint at the Police Station rather than taking the laws into their own hands.
He said any further report that showed that, ‘these Fulani herdsmen are grazing their animals on farmlands will call for immediate arrest after this peaceful resolution.
‘If you can’t stay here with my people in peace, then, you had better leave peacefully than destroy their farms,’ he stated.
Mr Gemega also cautioned landowners, who allowed the herdsmen to settle in the area that they were flouting the laws of the country concerning the activities of itinerant herdsmen.
Assistant Superintendent of Immigration (ASI), Justice Kudzo Normeshie, a Ghana Immigration Service Officer at Aflao, who took part in the engagement, said it was illegal for immigrants to enter the country through unauthorised routes.
He warned the herdsmen to enter the country genuinely to avoid being arrested and deported for illegal entry.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Jordan Quaye, the Keta Divisional Police Commander advised the Chiefs, Assembly members, and elders of the various communities to avoid handling criminal cases at home.
‘Any herdsman who graze their cattle on people’s farm will be arrested together with their landowners to serve as a deterrent,’ he added.
Mr Quaye charged parents to take full responsibility of their wards, who engages in sexual relationship with the immigrants.
Torgbi Shikabli IV, a regent of Tsiame, thanked the MUSEC team for their effort to restore peace to Tsiame.
‘l received many complains from farmers on how herdsmen have been destroying crops with their animals, while some suffered attacks, assaults from herdsmen, who burned their farms.’
Mr Bernard Suka, the Assembly member of the area, expressed appreciation over the meeting.
A resolution was made between the two parties with pledges from the herders to abide by the rules of the community for peace to prevail in the area.
Source: Ghana News Agency
