4 District Security Officers met after murders resulting from clashes between shepherds and farmers

General News of Monday, January 28, 2019

Source: citinewsroom.com

2019-01-28

An emergency meeting of four district security councils is under way in Drobonso, in the Sekyere Afram Plains District, Ashanti Region, to discuss recent killings of shepherds and local farmers.

Districts include: Sekyere Afram Plains, Asante Akyem North, Sekeyere Kumawu and Sekeyere Central.

District leaders and police commanders from these regions, as well as other stakeholders, participate in the meeting to discuss ways of finding a lasting solution to the problems of shepherd farmers in these areas.

The meeting was made necessary by the killing of three herdsmen at Drobonso, after a security officer from Scanfarms Ghana Limited was killed in Agogo two weeks ago. The Ashanti Regional Security Council has since strengthened its police and military personnel in the region to avoid possible reprisals.

Joseph Owusu, District Director General of Sekyere Afram Plains, told Citi News that the meeting would also discuss the creation of a ranch farm in troubled areas in order to find a solution to the conflict.

"We are meeting in Drobonso to find solutions to the ongoing killings. After that; we will publish a statement. We hoped that REGSEC would deploy more men so that we could reinforce patrols in the four main districts. We have had other meetings with key stakeholders, including traditional leaders, livestock owners and breeders. We are doing all this to calm the spirits and find a lasting solution. "

"I think that there is no military solution to this problem, we need a ranch in its own right as the president had done in the region of L '39; ;Is. We facilitate that. We are negotiating with the traditional chiefs to give us land so that the government can take over, "he added.

At the same time, the police are recovering the bodies released from the herdsmen who were killed during the weekend by the nomadic pastoralist community.

Addressing Citi News, Alhaji Osman Bin Ahmed, regional chief of the Ashanti herd community, said they were currently in Agogo's Presbyterian hospital, saying: waiting for the delivery of the bodies.

"Burying them will not stop the police from doing their job," he added.

The police are currently investigating those who allegedly attacked and killed the three herdsmen at Drobonso.

"We put things in place and we went to the scene. The case is under investigation. We want to know who did this and convince the person to take notes, "added the Divisional Police Commander of Effiduase, ACP Philip Asante.