Tabital Pulaaku International Ghana, the leadership of the Fulani Community has implored Ghanaian journalists to be fair and firm in their reportage.
According to its General Secretary, Yakubu Musah Barry, when Fulani suspects are arrested, the media uses the name of the Fulani tribe in its reportage instead of the personal identities of the suspects.
He said the use of “Fulani Herdsmen” in media headlines paint a negative picture of the Fulani tribe.
He made the call during a stakeholder engagement forum on “Seasonal Migration of Herdsmen” in Ejura on Saturday, December 3, 2022.
He bemoaned how Fulani tribes are used to describe suspects indulged in crimes compared to other tribes where the identities of the culprits are used.
“If incidents of any crime are being perpetrated with other tribes like the Akan, Dagomba, Ewe, Gas etc the tribe will not be mentioned. When an incident happens between the Fulanis, every Fulani has a name. The Fulani is a tribe and that tribe must be respected. Why is it that when a Fulani man commits a crime his name will not be mentioned but his tribe?
“I will challenge if from today you make it a mandate that every criminal’s name will not be mentioned but the tribe, we will see how many tribes are criminals in this country,” he challenged the media.
“I’m pleading to the media to be more fair to the Fulani tribe. We have very dignified, important personalities in the Fulani. The Fulani is a tribe and not a name of an individual. Fulanis are lovely people just like any other Ghanaian,” he said.
He, however, admitted some members of the Fulani community are criminals and has pledged to work with security agencies in the country to bring them to book.
“It is not only Fulanis that are criminals in the community. We accept that some of us are really really bad and we the leadership of the Fulani community will support the security agencies to flush the bad ones out,” he said.
By Issah Zakariah|Akoma FM|Onuaonline.com
