In a speech read on his behalf by Alhaji Abdul Rashid Pelpuo, Minister-in-Charge of Public and Private Partnerships, President John Dramani Mahama is reported to have admonished Muslims bound for the Hajj this year to contribute one-percent of the cost of undertaking the Hajj into something called the Zakat Fund of Ghana for the issuance of more scholarships to Muslim students in dire need of such funding

There is absolutely nothing wrong with helping able bodied and relatively resourceful members of the Muslim community help themselves and their ilk, the timing of such proposal is what is a bit suspicious, if not downright obscene, coming barely five months to the 2016 general election.

Dr. Pelpuo is reported to have read the speech on behalf of his boss at the State Banquet Hall in Accra. I am assuming that the venue of the Hajj candidates’ get-together was at the same place that used to be called the Kwame Nkrumah Conference Center. You see, the National Democratic Congress’ leadership has an avid penchant for renaming public facilities they did absolutely nothing to help construct or build.

I suppose such nauseating obsession with the renaming of public plants and other facilities is their idea of what national development is about. The constitutional concept of the Separation of Church and State or, in this instance, Mosque and State, seems to be too sophisticated or complex for these hooky-playing social democrats to understand.

This is not the very first time that the leadership of the National Democratic Congress has attempted to cannibalize the Islamic community into their ideological fold; and for what purpose, other than cheaply winning their seasonal votes, it is not clear.

A couple of years ago, for instance, President Mahama and his minions attempted to take over the functions of the organizers of the Hajj. They even made a bizarre proposition that virtually amounted to the government’s takeover of all recognized religious associations and organizations in the country.

Like an effete European colonial regime, the NDC Abongo Boys wanted to effectively control every facet of our national life. Not surprisingly, the leaders of the various religious groups and communities fiercely resisted the move, to the feigned surprise and horror of the NDC Abongo Boys. It then clearly appeared that the Mahama's posse had woefully underestimated the level of intelligence of the leadership of our disparate religious communities.

Well, what piqued my interest about the subject of this column is the fact that about a couple, or so, years ago, President Mahama proposed that all members of his cabinet, including himself, should contribute about 5-percent of their basic salaries as part of their yeomanly efforts towards economic blubber-trimming of wasteful public spending.

Somebody on the staff of the U.S. Embassy in Ghana would use the Twitter account of the embassy to call out President on his clearly vainglorious gimmickry. It would generate a Twitter cockfight between Ms. Hanna Tetteh, Ghana’s Foreign Minister, and Washington’s Chief Resident Diplomat in Accra.

As of this writing, President Mahama had yet to tell the nation how much money had been collected, and also to what use and/or purpose such funds as had been generated and, perhaps, continues to be generated had been put. The obvious thrust of this column, of course, is that our leaders have to first put their money where their mouths are before cavalierly presuming to lecture any section of our national community on charitable self-help.

Reference

(See “Charge 1% of Hajj into Zakat Fund – Mahama Proposes to Muslims” Kasapafmonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 6/26/16).

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