Iddrisu Mohammed Bingle, the president of the National Council of Fulani Chiefs, has urged Fulanis to embrace new ways of earning a living and not depend solely on cattle rearing.
He said the root cause of conflicts between them and farmers across Africa has been overdependence on cattle rearing.
Chief Bingle made these comments during a speech at the maiden conference of the National Council of Fulani Chiefs in Kintampo, Bono East Region.
We can do more
The three-day event (25-27 September 2020) placed particular focus on uniting all Fulanis in Ghana as well as addressing long-standing Fulani-farmer conflicts across the West African sub-region. The theme of the conference was “Our Unity, Our Strength”.
Addressing the gathering, Chief Bingle emphasised the importance of education for Fulanis to prepare them for diverse jobs.
He said the council seeks to change unfortunate negative stereotypes of the Fulani-farmer conflict and he appealed to the government to complement the chiefs’ efforts.
“We in the National Council are of the view that Allah did not create Fulanis to only be herdsmen. Fulanis can also embrace education and the acquisition of artisanal skills such as carpentry, masonry, plumbing and electrician,” he said.
“It is the overdependence of Fulanis on cattle-rearing that is creating the Fulani-farmer conflicts across our sub-region,” he said.
Change the narrative
“It is now a must for the Fulanis to diversify their occupation, and the only way to ensure that is for our children to embrace education,” Chief Bingle said.
He appealed to the government to help the Fulani community realise this vision.
Issah Hamidu Barry, chief of Fulanis in Tamale, said it is unfair to criminalise all Fulanis continuously even though it might be just one Fulani who has engaged in an illegal action.
He said officials and the general public should direct their enforcement efforts at recalcitrant Fulanis in a precisely targeted way, and not smear the entire Fulani community.
Illegalities
The acting Bono East Regional Police Commander, DCOP Asumadu Okyere-Darko, praised the efforts of the Fulani chiefs in forming the council. He implored them to scale up their efforts to promote unity and peace in Ghana.
“There are a number of activities that some Fulanis engage in, in this region, that do not promote peace. In fact, the activities of some Fulanis actually create insecurity … we are talking about armed robbery, kidnapping and stealing,” DCOP Okyere-Darko. said
“I’m not suggesting that all Fulanis or every Fulani is a bad person. In fact, the overwhelming majority of Fulanis in our region and the rest of the country are decent, hard-working and peaceful people,” he added.
DCOP Okyere-Darko further entreated the chiefs to liaise with the police to fish out and deal with the very few who are tarnishing their image.
Include zongos
Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia assured the chiefs that the government is working to include everybody in its policies and charged the Fulanis and their zongo counterparts to embrace education to benefit from government programmes.
“On the government’s part, we have had a major focus on trying to make sure that all the people in Ghana – everybody, every tribe, every region – feels included in the development of this country and participates in the wealth and prosperity of this country.
“One of the communities that has been really excluded over time is our zongos, and that is why we had the idea, first of all, to put together a Zongo Ministry,” he said.
Dr Bawumia also said the government plans to extend dams to Fulani settlements to cater for their water needs. He entreated them to complement the government’s efforts to ensure peace in the country.
Build model schools
The vice-president further declared that the zongos deserve something better than mortuaries.
This was in direct reference to the promise by the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, to build mortuaries for zongo communities if elected into office.
Dr Bawumia said people in zongos deserve more education to improve their livelihoods, and not mortuaries. This is why the NPP government has proposed building model schools for at least one zongo community in each region of Ghana.
“We are going to build a model senior high school in the zongo communities in every region. So, we will start with 16 model SHSs, so that our children will have an opportunity to attend those schools. That will be the start for next year.
“Our policy is not ‘One Zongo, One Mortuary’. We are not thinking of mortuaries. We are thinking of schools … We want to develop our zongos with schools and not mortuaries,” he said.
Dr Bawumia said that under the current NPP government, at least 40 students from the zongos have benefited from scholarships to study medicine in Cuba.
He said this shows that the NPP government has the challenges faced by residents of zongos at heart.
The National Council of Fulani Chiefs was formed in 2012. It has membership from across Ghana. It aims to galvanise Fulanis for unity, peace and development in their areas of settlement.
Dauda Zul-Kiful, Asaase Radio Bono East correspondent
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