Mr Sammuel Ofosu Ampofo, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, says Government will continue to appreciate the contribution of Muslims in building the country's democracy.

He said education was the bedrock for every society’s development and appealed to the Muslim Chiefs, Imams and Opinion leaders in the Zongo communities to send their wards to school for a better future.

Mr Ampofo was addressing Muslim Chief’s, Imams and Opinion leaders at a 'Maulid' ceremony to celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammed (SAW), organized by the Supreme Council of Tijjania Islamic Affairs in Accra.

He said the provision of educational infrastructure was on the top priority of government's development agenda, which would promote a sound teaching and learning environment in all parts of the country.

Mr Ampofo said 2,500 "schools under tree" had been replaced with modern classroom infrastructure throughout the country upon the present government's assumption of office in 2009.

On the school feeding programme, he said government had increased the number of children from 700, 000 to 1,700,000 and expressed the hope that the number would be increased further by the end of the Year.

Mr Ampofo added that, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development was formulating a policy for Cabinet and Parliamentary approval to maintain the programme no matter which government was in power.

He said the Local Enterprises and Skills Development Programme (LESDEP) was introduced by government to engage the youth in professional fields and reduce the unemployment rate in the country.

Mr Ampofo said peace was an important pre-requisite for co-existence and called on Islamic scholars to preach peace in the Muslim and Zongo communities in the run-up to the 2012 general election.

Alhaji Ganiyu Busari, Chairman for the occasion said Prophet Muhammed (SAW) entreated Muslims to love their nation, as it was in his Hadith (Hubul Watani minal Iman), and serve their country to the best of their capacity and faith.

Alhaji Busari prayed for peace as the country prepared to go to the polls in December this year, and appealed to the Muslim youth not to engage in political violence and to respect their neighbours in their various communities irrespective of their religious backgrounds.**