The Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the Council of Zongo Chiefs has firmed up his beliefs that the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is committed to the development and promotion of Islamic religion than any other government that has ever ruled the country.
According Sheikh Abdul Kadir, since independence and the establishment of multi-party democracy no government has shown these levels of commitment towards Islam. He said the current president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has exhibited and sealed this commitment towards Islamic religion with the creation of a tailor-made Ministry to foresee developments in the deprived Zongo areas of the country.
He said the inner-cities and Zongo communities are dominated by people who believe and follow Islam in these deprived areas. The regional Zongo chief who is also the Greater Accra Regional Dagomba chief made this revelation when the Minister for Inner-City and Zongo Development Dr. Mustapha Abdul- Hamid paid a working visit on the council members to fraternize with the council’s activities and to introduce himself to them.
He said even though the Minister’s task is enormous, Muslems should be thankful to the president for the honour done the Zongo communities. ‘Now Muslems are allowed to manifest their religion by learning Arabic, engaging in Zakat and performing Hajj among others in the country’’ he added.
This government, he said has made many people realized that people of Zongo descent are humans in the scheme of the development of the country. ‘’Zongo communities have over the years not had these sorts of treatment in the history of the country he narrated. He quickly called on Zongo people to exercise patient with the sitting president as he rolls out programmes and projects that will see the elimination of squalor from the Zongo communities.
He explained the president is noted for being patient and Ghanaians must also learn to be patient with his government as it works to improve upon the lots of Ghanaians.
He stated that if the president had not been patient; he would not have been president today and for him to establish a Ministry that oversees development in the Zongos.
He maintained that the president’s ability to exhibit patience in the 2013 Election Petition before the Supreme Court presided over by His Lordship Justice William Atubiga made voters in the world bank of the then ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to massively vote for the then opposition leader Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the last elections.
He minces no words to say the president is the only president that has shown much commitments to Islam in the history of party politics in the country. He said aside the President’s vice being a committed Muslem, the government’s ability to managed and organize one of the successful pilgrimages in the history of Moslems embarking on Hajj in the country.
He explained that since the assumption of power, the president has shown commitment to making the Zongo communities see life hence the appointments of indigenes of Zongos to head the fledging Zongo Ministry.
He called on the Minister to work hard for the betterment of the people living in the Zongo communities. He reminded his colleague Zongo chiefs to continue praying for the president and his Ministers as they navigate the storm to make life better for Ghanaians in the country.