When you take a cursory look online for Agogo herdsmen and related issues, you would find a litany of stories and write-ups dating back several years.
As a journalist, it is almost like re-using a template each year as far as the nomads vrs Agogo residents’ issue is concerned.
So indeed we have been here before. We have had joint Police-Military operations there before. We have had Operation Cow leg before; re-activated several times actually.
What is the story?
Every year for over 19 years now, “Fulani” nomadic herdsmen continue to wreak havoc on the people of Asante Akyem Agogo. Their cattle graze in the farm of the people who are mostly subsistence farmers. The farmers say the destruction left on the farms when a herd of cattle pass through the farm is a sorry sight to behold.
That’s not all. These nomads who are almost always in the forests beat up farmers who complain about their activities, rape women on their farms and even kill people on their farms. The herdsmen are reported to wield sophisticated fire-arms and are hence not easy to deal with.
They instill so much fear in the people of Agogo to the point where some abandon their farms altogether for fear of these herdsmen.
The Chiefs and people of Agogo in essence have been subdued by the people they accepted into their fold with stringent terms and conditions.
The “Fulani” menace has in fact threatened the very existence of residents of Agogo.
Many lives and huge quantities of property have been lost but all interventions, including evacuation attempts; have failed to yield desired results.
Not even a court order in January, 2012, followed by a joint police-military eviction christened ‘Operation Cow leg’ has done the magic.
Why are we here again?
The question therefore comes up; why are we here again? Why is the issue not resolved for all these years?
We are fire fighters
As a people, Ghanaians have developed certain traits jointly. These traits, in my opinion accounts for the cyclical nature of our problems as a people. Individuals from among us have carried these attitudes to various offices including governance. One of such attitudes is that we are a nation of fire fighters. We move helter-skelter to put in place some semblance of a solution and then when it seem a bit quiet, we return to our NDC and NPP early morning debates as though nothing happened and nothing ever will.
This attitude of ours is not only exemplified in our handling of the Agogo nomadic herdsmen situation but in all crisis situations. Just take a look at how we rushed to set up response centres during the threat of ebola outbreak and how abysmally we handled the recent KUMACA outbreaks. Look at how people cue at DVLA at the beginning of each year for new licence plates for vehicles. It’s almost as if the authorities enjoy the site of the long chaotic queues. I know you may have your own examples of such behaviours of ours.
We have become a people that lack the commitment to see things through. We hold one end of a problem and then move on to another end of another problem without really solving any.
The fact that the chiefs and people have on many occasions pled with government not to make operation cow leg “a nine day wonder”any time it is activated speaks volumes.
It’s a charade
What emboldens these nomads to remain there despite all national efforts to evict them? Many of them are no longer nomads. They have become residents of the place with families who rear cattle for some of the powerful people in our society. I suspect that all that is going on is an effort to placate folks at Agogo and not to eradicate the situation as we’ve seen over the years.
Politicians recognize the herdsmen as legitimate and campaign to them during elections. How then are they not legitimate after the elections?
Currently, four security men; comprising three military men and a police officer have been shot. Three of them critically wounded and receiving medical care at the 37 Military Hospital.
I now see choppers hovering over our skies and heavy military gear moving towards Agogo. It is supposed to mean that there is a new found seriousness to the annual ritual that goes on at Agogo. Many including myself remain unimpressed.
The question is; has the operation taken up heat because this time some members of the operation task force were shot by the herdsmen?
Even then, you don’t need a prophet to predict we will be here again next year or two.
These two may seem like an over-simplification of the reasons we are still here but the whole lot of the issues will fall well under these two points.