judices of Fulani pastoralists in Ghana
We now present various stereotypes and prejudices of Fulani, especially the pastoral Fulani, in Ghana as portrayed in media and citizenship discourses that subtly contribute to their exclusion and discrimination.
Fulani pastoralists as armed robbers and bandits
A major prejudice in the general Ghanaian society is that Fulani engage in highway robberies. Fulani herders are seen to be armed robbers or accomplices of robberies. Most of this is highlighted in the Ghanaian media (as illustrated below). Many in the interviews and FGDs claimed that Fulani herders harbour their friends from Burkina Faso or Nigeria to engage in robbery in the communities or link roads to communities and abscond afterwards. Fulani pastoralists are also seen to engage in banditry activities such as cattle rustling, animal theft (sheep, fowls, goats, etc.), theft of food crops and confiscating motorbikes. Youth farmers in an FGD stated that ‘…on high-ways, Fulani are said to wield guns and other weapons to rob vehicles and people of their valuables.’ When asked to prove the evidence that indeed robberies are done by Fulani, the respondents of the FGD claimed that the mode of dressing of the robbers, their language and looks are those of Fulani. Interestingly, one of the female victims of an alleged Fulani robbery claimed that ‘on our way to Djentiri market (in Gushiegu), our bus was intercepted by a group of robbers and they took all our monies. Although the robbers disguised themselves, the scent of cow milk on them was obvious. When we were stopped, the robbers spoke in a dialect that was Fula and the scent as they drew nearer us to take our monies was obvious they were Fulani.’6 Others claimed that Fulani also connive with organized groups and butchers to steal cattle and sell them in cities.
‘…Briefing the press, the Regional Police Commander, DCOP Ransford Moses Ninson, stated that the Police administration has observed that Fulani headsmen together with some Ghanaian armed robbers who have been attacking people on highways and killing innocent citizens are hiding at these ghettos, hence the need to chase them out…’12 (emphasis added).
Simply identifying other armed robbers as Ghanaians and clearly naming Fulani armed robbers by their ethnic group name clearly illustrates ethnic labelling and the social categorization put on all Fulani by Ghanaians (through media discourses). In some instances, robbers disguise themselves as Fulani supposedly speaking and dressing like Fulani because these armed robbers know the public stereotype of Fulani as armed robbers. This cognitive categorization of individual Fulani engaged in armed robbers is used to classify the entire Fulani ethnic group as armed robbers.
Fulani pastoralists as rapists
Most of these claims about Fulani pastoralists raping women are difficult to prove as neither the police have evidence of it nor are any formal complaints from victims made to the police. In an FGD with a group of young men whether they had evidence that Fulani herders are rapists, one of them stated that ‘we heard it happened somewhere and not here …’. Accordingly, one of them stated that the difficulty in proving the issue of rape stems from the fact that many women in Ghana do not report or talk of rape cases for fear of stigma from the society and family members alike. Fulani pastoralists equally argue that their tradition and customs do not accept sexual contact with women who are not legally married to them. Instructively, this stereotype appears to incite hatred towards Fulani herders.
Fulani pastoralists as uncivilized, primitive and dirty people
Fulani and other ethnic groups in Ghana are divided by a number of cultural differences in the spheres of social and political organization, economic organization, food, dressing and general lifestyle. For many people in Ghana, Fulani are just pastoralists involved in raising herds of cattle. However, the Fulani include a wide array of people who are businessmen, traders, settled farmers, educated officials and politicians.16 As 