Herdsmen menace: Ecowas needs policy to address canker - Former President Kufuor

Former President Kufuor has called on ECOWAS to as a matter of urgency implement measures to deal with the movement of cattle across borders within the subregion.

He was optimistic that an agreement by the regional leaders will eventually lead to an amicable settlement of the disagreements between herdsmen and natives of countries.

He was disturbed about the increasing cases of disputes between herdsmen and farmers and cautioned that such disputes unresolved could lead to clashes between countries

Former President Kufuor stressed that to curtail these clashes ECOWAS ought to be proactive in their actions and adopt common approach to dealing with the menace caused by the herdsmen.

"I know that currently is being addressed with this matter that could lead to clashes even among our classes and we should step up the protests we make at the Assembly of ECOWAS for all the countries to come by a common policy on how to control the nomadic herdsmen," he remarked

The former President proposed that to deal with the menace, district assemblies should be made to spearhead any such menace through the establishment of ranches

He noted that this will ensure orderliness in the activities of the herdsmen and the farmers and also serve as a source of revenue generation for the local authorities.



"What we should be thinking about as policy is encouraging the local government across our country to see if they could develop ranches that could be leased to these herdsmen so when they are forced by climate change to come here, they know where to go to and they should be directed to go there. There should be law enforcement and if they should violate the laws then the laws should deal with them seriously. But so far I'm not aware of such ranches which could generate resources for our local councils or assemblies to use in providing services for their people and of course, if we could shepherd the herdsmen to move in this direction then the farmers too may protect their lands to pursue their agriculture in peace to avert the clashes we are currently subjected to" he retorted.