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State Policies, Local Prejudices and Cattle Rustling Along the Ghana-Burkina Faso Border

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Steve Tonah
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Abstract

This article briefly discusses the various factors that gave rise to tension in northern Ghana between Fulbe pastoralists coming in from Burkina Faso and the local Kassena farmers (who have livestock of their own). The Ghanaian government's decision in 1988–89 to expel the Fulbe resulted in more problems, not least the dilemma of how to patrol effectively the permeable borderland and the gradual introduction there of modern firearms. In consequence some argue that it is not the policies of conservation that are being called into question but the government's sovereignty.

Résumé

Cet article examine brièvement les facteurs á l’origine des tensions survenues dans le nord du Ghana entre pasteurs Fulbe venus du Burkina Faso et agriculteurs Kassena locaux (également propriétaires de bétail). La décision du gouvernement ghanéen d’expulser les Fulbe, en 1988 et 1989, engendra d’autres problèmes, á commencer par le dilemme entre une surveillance efficace de la région frontalière perméable par des patrouilles et l’introduction progressive d’armes á feu modernes dans cette région. Par conséquent, certains soutiennent que ce ne sont pas les politiques de protection qui sont mises en question mais la souveraineté du gouvernement.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 70 , Issue 4 , November 2000 , pp. 551 - 567
Copyright
© Edinburgh University Press 2000

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