Peasant farmers petition President Akufo-Addo over herdsmen menace 

The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has petitioned the President, Nana Akufo Addo to find a lasting solution to the menace of herdsmen in the country. 

The Association noted that, many years of indecisive action on the matter by successive governments has emboldened the herdsmen as they march their cattle to destroy farms and impoverish the already poor peasant farmer. 

Addressing the media after a demonstration through some streets of Tamale, the women's organiser of the PFAG Hajia Habiba Baako, alleged that "dozens of women have either been maimed or killed by herdsmen who normally drive their animals into their farms." 

She added that, "a pregnant woman was recently burnt to death at Saboba by some herdsmen whose cattle strayed into the deceased’s charcoal pit, while forty other women have been killed by herdsmen in Agogo." 

The PFAG said the issue of the headsmen poses a direct threat to food and income security for hundreds of thousands of peasant farmers. 

The association is therefore appealing to the President to declare the issue a national security problem. The association is also appealing to the President to direct the ministries of National Security, Food and Agriculture, Local Government and Rural Development as well as Regional Coordinating Councils to collaborate to find lasting solution to the matter. 

The Deputy Northern Regional Minister, Solomon Boar who received the petition, assured the demonstrators of government's commitment to finding a lasting solution to the problem. He commended the peasant farmers for adopting a peaceful approach to addressing the program.

STORY FILED BY: Murtala Issah – GBC (RADIO GHANA).

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