Abeiku Santana condemns killing of Mole Park elephants
2nd May 2018
Abeiku Santana has described as a “shame” the killing of elephants at Mole National Park, one of Ghana’s tourism sites in the north.
Some youth from Laribanga near Damongo in the West Gonja District of the Northern Region on Thursday, April 26 killed two elephants that had strayed into the community from the Mole National Game Reserve.
According to reports, they allegedly attacked some officials from the Wildlife Division and snatched a weapon from one of the forest guards who had gone to the scene where the two elephants were killed.
The community members were angry because they claimed the elephants destroyed their farmlands. They, therefore, killed the two elephants and decided to share the meat.
The forest guards were attacked when they attempted to stop the community members from sharing the meat. But Abeiku Santana, a renowned radio presenter, who has been pushing the frontiers of tourism in Ghana, condemned the killings.
According to him, the unfortunate incident is a shame to Ghana’s tourism industry and it brings to bear the high level of ignorance and poor conservation policies in Ghana.
“I’m saddened and it’s a shame to Ghana’s wildlife tourism. This tells you the high level of ignorance and poor conservation policies we have in Ghana. STOP killing elephants, endangered species in Ghana,” he said on Instagram and shared a photo of one of the elephants which was killed.
He also said it’s a shared responsibility for Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Creative Arts, Ministry of Lands Ministry of Local Government and their implementing agencies such as Forestry Commission, Ghana Wildlife Services, Ghana Tourism Authority, district assemblies, progressive youth groups , churches, civil societies, traditional and opinion leaders to help stop such incidents.