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The possibility of another bloody clash in Bimbilla over butchers’ customary obligation to send a share of their meat to the regent in the district is imminent as the Taribabu/Nakohinaa butchers’ families, has served notice they would resist any attempts by individuals in government to coerce them to continue that customary tradition to the Bimbilla regent.

The butchers’ families a few weeks ago blatantly refused to present their share of meat to the regent of Bimbilla as custom demanded for the reason that they did not recognise the current regent as the overlord of Bimbilla.

The development led to a shooting incident between loyalists of the regent and the butchers, which left 12 people dead.But spokesperson of the butchers’ families, Fusheini Yakubu told The Finder in an interview that there is a calculated attempt by some individuals in government siding with the regent to coerce the butchers into submission, a development he said would not encourage a peaceful resolution of the matter.

Mr Fusheini narrated that the Deputy Interior Minister, James Agalga, and the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna, together with the District Chief Executive for the Nanumba-North District, in a recent visit to the district to help resolve the matter, only visited one faction, that is the regent and his elders.

He added that the butchers’ families were later invited by the team at the District Assembly Library in Bimbilla, “only for the Interior Minister to impose on the butchers their decision of signing a bond of good behaviour and also to honour the regent customary obligations by sending the symbolic meat to the palace.”

He accused the Deputy Minister of “taking sides” in the matter.
“They have not handled the issue well, they have taken sides,” he noted.

Mr Fusheini insisted that the Constitution of Ghana does not allow government officials to deny any group of persons their basic economic rights under the pretext of customary obligations.

To him, “customary obligation is just an obligation, not a right.”
He claimed that during the meeting the butchers were intimidated by the Interior Minister himself with the security personnel present at the sitting.

He recounted that the first incident could have been averted if the warning signals were taken seriously by the District Security Council, but said, unfortunately, “they looked on for that incident to happen.”

He claimed that prior to the first incident, “a threat letter was written by the registrar of the traditional council to the butchers, a copy of which was sent to the District Security Council, the District Chief Executive, the Police Commander and the District Army Commander.”

On the day of the incident, the abattoir was opened for the butchers by the police commander, where the animals were slaughtered under the protection of the police.

He said just when they were about entering the shop, a group of young people stormed the place and prevented them from entering the butchering shop, claiming that the District Chief Executive had ordered that the butchers should not slaughter the animals at the abattoir because the facility belonged to the assembly.

“So we decided to send the animals to our own structure at the Bimbilla old market; before we got there, another gang also prevented us from selling the meat.”

He narrated that just when they were preparing to send the meat for proper storage until the issue was amicably resolved, the shooting incidents happened.