Ranch Owner To Lose ¢1m Investment Over No-Goats Taboo

A ranch owner, Fredrick Benneh Frimpong, faces the imminent loss of over GH¢1 million investment in Berekum Senase over a no-goats taboo.
The traditional leaders in the community issued a two-week ultimatum for him to relocate the farm, deeming it taboo to keep goats.

Mr Frimpong recounted the community-wide order and the subsequent slaughter of goats by machete-wielding individuals, clarifying that the directive targeted goats on the extensive system, not farms like his.

While away in South Africa, however, he said his mother received a summons from the palace, instructing them to vacate the farm due to religious beliefs.

Despite investing heavily in the farm, including Semanhyia grass, boreholes, premium breeds, a warehouse, and machinery, the entrepreneur pleaded with authorities for a three-month extension to establish a new farm.

However, the plea was denied, leaving him with no choice but to sell the goats.

“About four months ago, I actually heard that the queen mother had issued an order for the people in the community to take all goats from the community, and rumours were spreading. Three days after the order, a group of young guys came into the community with machetes and killed all the goats. I was told the news but later heard that because there was a funeral coming up, the order was for goats roaming randomly, and that is why the guys were killing the goats in the town.”

“That being said, nobody stepped a foot on my farm, so that made the rumour that it was for random goats true. So, we continued with our business after the incident, but three months after I was traveling around South Africa, I got a call from my mother saying she had been summoned by the palace, and she was given two weeks for us to vacate all our livestock from the premises because it was a taboo and that the gods do not want goats here.”