Enduring Fulani menace exposes endemic satanic corruption in Ghana

My heart bleeds when I hear of persistent and rampant Fulani rampage in several parts of Ghana but government and traditional authorities look on petrified, or away in condoning. 

If I were the president this will not continue in Ghana for another day. And it will not so happen in my region or district if I were a regional minister or DCE in an affected region or district. I would not allow any so-called ECOWAS cooperation convention and agreement to hurt my people. The abandonment is the height of irresponsible surrender of the fate and faith of Ghanaians into the hands of these marauding foreigners.

Now, hear my experience. In 1985 when most of northeast Accra was not yet built up, I inherited regular invasion of University of Ghana’s Animal Research Station at Nugua by Fulani headsmen. The Officer-In-Charge and the Farm Manager were all afraid to stop them because the Fulani guys were supplying milk and beef to some heads of the Faculty of Agriculture. Besides, many of the cattle in the Fulani stock were owned by judges, police and army officers and senior public servants. I went straight to the Dean and picked issues with him exchanging words nobody ever dared to. After exposing their complicity I took steps to halt the invasion by repairing the fence and putting some of the workers on guard. I later suffered indirectly for this action but I don’t regret it at all.

Next when I was DCE of Jomoro District in John Kufuor’s government, some Fulani’s entered the district from Ivory Coast through Ellena with bamboo rafters expertly engineered to float animals across the Tano River. Once noticed, I took only three days to get rid of all of them back across the river. The corrupt constituency party executives and many of the officials of the district assembly were unhappy about my action because I refused to accept three large bulls that were brought by the Fulanis to the assembly to be slaughtered for the workers. I was prepared to resist any silly intervention from the regional minister as I had said it openly and he dared not call me for questioning. So my peoples’ cassava and plantain farms were saved from Fulani impunity. I was prepared to be sacked by the corrupt political system that I had unfortunately got myself entangled in. But how many DCEs can take my risk? What a pity! Do you see why DCEs must not be appointed by governments?

Come another time, when Bukinabes were routing their cattle through Elubo to Abidjan, during the Ivorian crisis, I got my assembly to establish a transit inspection and treatment kraal and we were making huge weekly revenue from this facility. The corrupt and unthinking constituency party executives asked me to hand it over to them so they could make money for the party in the constituency. When I refused to release the kraal, I was dragged to the Regional Minister, JB Aidoo who shamelessly tried to get me to comply. I forthrightly refused and walked away only to be surreptitiously relieved of my post soon as if I was going to be transferred elsewhere. 

My experience is an example of what DCEs can do to get rid of these Fulanis who have tormented Ghanaian over decades – their animal wiping out farms and their men raping women on farms and killing their husbands if they attempt to protect the wives.

And I wept yesternight when watching a Joy News TV programme, PM Express when a panellist, Dr Oppong Anane, chairman of a so-called Ghana Ranching Project Committee messed himself up and the Ministry of Agriculture that may have appointed him to that position. He was ridiculously defending the Fulani presence, saying “They play a major role in our agriculture, and without them we can’t get meat.” Christ Jesus! What a moronic assertion! He continued, “We need to dialogue with them among other stakeholders. We are going to open district offices to secure lands for ranching for cattle grazing.” Lord Jesus, where is this incompetent concept coming from? Doesn’t the Ministry of Agriculture know that cattle must necessarily not be produced in every district? Some of our ecosystems are so fragile that our people have wisely avoided cattle rearing in these areas. Is this idea of cattle-ranch-for-every-district coming from the incompetent Minister of Agriculture who has claimed victory over army worms with his shoddy spraying programme when in reality the pest has naturally died down as seasonal conditions dictate? Army worms are soil-borne and many have gone into hiding. They could spring up next year if the season is biologically conducive for them.

Ghanaians, let’s think deeply. The cost to Ghana in potential deforestation, land degradation and desertification disproportionately outweighs any short term benefits derivable by corrupt politicians, chiefs and public servants from the Fulani presence. Desertification and associated hardships have already forced millions of our northern brethren to the south on better yielding lands. Are we going to gag ourselves in corruption and allow Fulanis to come and destroy our ecosystem as they have done in their home countries? Are we that foolish?

I challenge President Akufo-Addo to get this halted immediately and get the Fulanis out of the country. No funny excuses! And I say, again, that if I were a president, regional minister or DCE this will not continue in my jurisdiction beyond three days. And let nobody who does not understand agriculture claim that the Fulanis are producing cattle to feed us. That’s ridiculous and even silly! I hear some similar lousy and infuriating statements from corrupt traditional and government leaders as well as public servants.

With professional thinking devoid of corruption, we can resuscitate our agriculture without Fulani participation. And if the politicians fail to take action, I would urge the few clean chiefs in our communities to take up arms with their people to drive out Fulanis trespassing on their lands. Government owns no land in Ghana. The people must defend their lands if government fails us.

Ketiboa Blay is a socioeconomic development management specialist with outstanding expertise in baseline research; community needs assessment, community development planning; and projects, programmes and policy technical review and evaluation. He has considerable expertise also in conflict management. As a non-denominational Christian evangelist, Mr Blay is also a peace-builder.