ARE THE FULANI HERDSMEN A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY?

Fulani herdsmen are found in countries where there is enough pasture for their livestock to feed on. Ghana has been no exception to these livestock rearers because our country is blessed with mineral resources, oil, human resource mention them and even good green grass.As hospitable as Ghanaians are we tend to accommodate every person or group of people from any walk of life. To many Ghanaians I think they will rather extend a warm hand of reception to the most wicked person on earth rather than give him/her a cup of poison tea.

But, this good characteristic cannot be extended to Fulani herdsmen because of some vices some of them engage in like armed robbery, rape etc. So Mr. Justice Bayor a head of operations at West Africa Network for Peace (WANEP) says a research conducted indicates the fulani are a threat to national security. Well this idea has met an opposing view from Dr. Kwesi Anning of Kofi Annan Center for Peace and International Relatins. He says a small sample size of incidents cannot be concluded upon as evidence to say these people are a threat but rather in general these people commit rather fewer vices than the indigens of the places where they live.

Today's news item on Joy Fm captured a story that some people of the northern region are hunting for fulani herdsmen to retaliate for the murder of two butchers. Are these the only murder cases in Ghana, what about the daily incidents of death we here in bawku, yendi and the other places of the northern part of Ghana. The central region alone recorded about 13 murder cases so why are these people apart from the fulani not a threat to natonal security. Is Ghana becoming a place where some ethnic groups are sidelined because they virtually have no voice?

Let us not forget the fact that we are Africans and as Africans, we are brothers and sisters to one other no matter the ethnic group, tongue or whatsoever. Let us not victimize our own because we are not so sure of their nationality and give them a warm place where they can grow to go outside to preach good about our motherland.

To Mr. Anning the Fulani herdsmen are not a threat to national security. The fulani people have the right to better standards of survival.