The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has reiterated government’s commitment to fulfilling its promises to Ghanaians, and has thus called for collaboration from Muslims, chiefs and people of the Brong Ahafo Region to enable them execute all the interventions in a sustainable manner for the benefit of all.
He called for prayers from the Muslim community for the government.
Dr. Bawumia made the appeal in separate interactions with some prominent religious leaders in the Brong Ahafo Region as part of his Ramadan tour of some regions in the country. His tour in the region, has taken him to Kintampo, Techiman and Sunyani, the regional capital.
He explained government was putting in place measures for a smooth take off of its initiatives to turn the fortunes of the country around, and called on Ghanaians to partner the government for its success.
The Vice President re-echoed the credentials and desire of President Nana Akuffo Addo to develop Zongo communities in the country where the majority of Muslims live, but lacks development, and therefore pledged to establish the Zongo Development Fund as captured in the party’s manifesto.
“The Zongo Development Fund is one of the initiatives to develop our deprived communities and help us bridge the developmental gap amongst communities. It has never happened in Ghana here since 1957. People in communities to benefit from the fund will drive the developmental initiatives and areas to be developed or where the fund will be invested. In fulfillment of our pledge, in our first budget, we have allocated 219 million Ghana Cedis. It’s not a small amount and next month officials will be coming around to conduct needs assessments”, he opined.
He said government policy of making Arabic studies at the basic level optional and examinable, study of French and Free Senior High School, are aimed at addressing the challenge of language barrier in dealing with neighboring countries.
According to him, all necessary arrangements have been put in place to ensure that this year’s Hajj Pilgrimage will be incident-free, and wished all pilgrims well on their trip to the Holy land.
“After Ramadan, we will be to perform Hajj, and I wish all those going a safe trip. For this year, there are some changes to the arrangements to bring relief to pilgrims. Six flights will depart from Tamale and seven from Accra. Because of your suffering during the Hajj, the government has arranged for pilgrims to be fed for three days in Madina, buses to transport people especially the elderly, and due to long wait for flights in Jeddah, we have also arranged for you to be fed whilst waiting for your flights”, he announced.
The Vice President commended the chiefs and religious leaders for their prayers, and for voting for the NPP, and appealed to them to continue to pray and build bridges for peace and harmony in their respective jurisdictions for development.
The Chief of Wangara Communities in Kintampo, Sariki Fanyinama, in his welcome address commended Dr. Bawumia and government for appreciating the contribution of Muslims to the country’s development.
He charged Muslims especially the youth to emulate the humility of Dr. Bawumia, which he said serves as shining example in their localities.
The Brong Ahafo Regional Chief Imam, Sheikh Umar Abdul Kadiri, commended government for initiating programmes to address poverty and unemployment in the country, and pledged their support for government’s development agenda.
He prayed for peace, unity and abundant blessing for the nation in this Holy month of Ramadan, and tasked the Muslim community to be each other’s keeper for the blessings of Allah to manifest in the country’s development.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
