Mr Mutakilu Tsadenu, the Assemblyman for the Butabe/Obuase Electoral Area, has described the increasing presence of stray animals in communities in the Kadjebi District as unacceptable.
He said animals, including goats, sheep, pigs and cattle, were often allowed to roam freely in communities, destroying domestic property, food crops and other farm produce.
Mr Tsadenu made the remarks during the Second Ordinary General Assembly Meeting of the Third Session of the Kadjebi District Assembly at Kadjebi in the Oti Region.
He said the menace had become a common occurrence in many communities across the district and required urgent intervention by the Assembly and other relevant authorities.
“The earlier the Assembly authorities act to reverse the trend, the better,” he said.
Contributing to the discussion, Mr Boakye Dankwah Budu, the Assemblyman for the Asato Electoral Area, said the traditional authorities in his area had made a byel-aw to address the destruction of farms by stray animals.
He said under the bye-law, farmers whose farms were destroyed by stray pigs were authorised to kill the animals, with the owners required to bear the cost of the bullets used.
Mr Budu urged persons engaged in animal husbandry to properly confine their animals to prevent them from straying into farms and communities and destroying people’s property.
He said livestock owners must take responsibility for their animals to promote peaceful coexistence between farmers and animal rearers.
Mr Bright Kwaku Ankamah, Assemblyman for the Pampawie Electoral Area, shared similar concerns, saying stray pigs had entered cocoa farms in his area and destroyed crops.
He reiterated the call for proactive measures by the relevant authorities to address the problem before it escalated.
Responding to the concerns, Dr Alhaji Sam Issaka Suraj, the Kadjebi District Chief Executive (DCE), urged Assembly Members to collaborate with traditional authorities and the Town and Area Councils to ensure the arrest of stray animals.
He said one of the reasons for establishing the Town and Area Councils was to help address such challenges at the local level and urged the Assembly members and residents to support the councils to perform their functions effectively.
Dr Suraj said revenue generated from the arrest and impoundment of stray animals would support the operations of the councils, adding that 50 per cent of the revenue accrued went to the respective councils.
He appealed to livestock owners to take greater responsibility for their animals by keeping them in secured enclosures to prevent them from roaming freely and causing destruction to farms, property and other valuables.
Dr Suraj said collective efforts by the Assembly, traditional authorities, Town and Area Councils, farmers and livestock owners were necessary to bring the situation under control.
By Daniel Agbesi Latsu, GNA
