He said true love for the Zongo Community should reflect in budgetary allocation for the area, and that was what the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had done.

“Now the government has allocated funds, specifically for Zongo Development. It shows a recognition and not just a recognition by word of mouth. It is a recognition by law, and it is a recognition of money and resources to help the development of Zongos. We can say, our new government can say we love the Zongos, but if you really want to show true love make the budgetary allocation to develop the Zongos,” he said.

[contextly_sidebar id=”eflX1uI6TJoket1cgdoOx99LB4Q9aWEv”]The Vice President was speaking to a congregation of the  Muslim Community who had converged for the Mawlid in Kumasi.

Mawlid is the observance of the birthday of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.

Dr. Bawumia said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government is committed to ensuring ‘uniformity in development’.

According to him, the Nana Akufo-Addo government is making the lives of Ghanaians living in the Zongos better through various policy decisions and programs.

“For the full commencement of the Zongo Development agenda, the 2018 budget also allocates a significant amount of money for the Zongo Development Agenda. This policy is to ensure uniformity in development, as we build the needed infrastructure for the Zongos and inner-cities to attract investment, that will lead to Job creation and development,” he said.

Dr. Bawumia further advised persons living in the Zongos to be at peace with each another as was demonstrated through the character of Prophet Muhammad.

“We must strive for the excellence that we seek, as we rely on the Almighty Allah as our ultimate guide. In doing this, we must live in peace and harmony with one another, in truth and mutual respect, as well as respect for the fate of others, our best example is in the life of the holy Prophet himself,” he said.

Zongo Dev’t Fund Bills passed
The Zongo Development Fund Bill was passed into law in November 2017.

The Zongo Development Fund bill seeks to establish the legal framework for the implementation of the Zongo Development Fund.

Muslim students are expected to benefit from scholarship packages under the Zongo Development Fund.
$50 million dollars was allocated to the Fund, which was a line item in the 2017 budget.

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According to him, the late vice president had Ghanaians living in the Zongos at heart, and thus suggested a social intervention programme to address their developmental needs.

Speaking at an event to mark the 5th anniversary of Aliu Mahama’s passing, Dr. Bawumia said the former vice President made the proposal as a way of defusing the propaganda being peddled at the time, that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was against people from the Northern and Zongo communities.

[contextly_sidebar id=”IGRnU69F7evnRRB6ArzALXsq7kDRW9qd”]“We see him [Aliu Mahama] as a pioneer as far as our politics is concerned. As Vice President to President Kufuor, he brought something unique to the table. He straddled the zongo and northern communities. The story of the Zongo Development fund was started with Alhaji Aliu Mahama.”

“We were talking and he said, we have to do things to let the Zongos appreciate that the NPP is not anti-Zongo as the propaganda was at the time. We said what can we do, and we started talking about specific interventions because successive governments had not paid attention to the zongos. So that is why when we brought that suggestion to Nana Akufo-Addo he immediately said that it is a good idea, let us put it in the manifesto, and today by the grace of God, we are establishing the Zongo Development Fund,” he added.

The Zongo Development Fund Bill was approved last week by Parliament.

It was approved together with the Northern Development Authority (NDA), another social intervention initiative captured in the NPP’s 2016 manifesto.

The Zongo Development Fund bill seeks to establish the legal framework for the implementation of the Zongo Development Fund.

Government has allocated $50 million dollars to the Fund for the improvement of Zongo communities in the country.

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Speaking to Citi News, Isaac Adongo, who is also the NDC MP for Bolgatanga Central, noted that, the delay was a calculated attempt by the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) to deny Ghanaians the passage of the Bill and its subsequent implementation.

[contextly_sidebar id=”xxEQ15uxOxAbSzU6cTXRJyVuhaQAW7Gh”]“They simply can’t put together a single bill… Why are they not bringing it back under a certificate of urgency? If the Zongo Development Fund Bill is as important as all the other bills that they have brought under the certificate of urgency, why are they going to gazette it again for another 14 days?”

“It should have come under a certificate of urgency immediately after the bill has been redone, to show that they are really serious and committed to seeing to the implementation of that,” he added.

The Zongo Development Fund bill seeks to establish the legal framework for the implementation of the Zongo Development Fund.

This is the second time government has withdrawn the Zongo Development Fund Bill from Parliament. In August, the initial bill laid in the house was withdrawn and later re-laid.

According to Mr. Adongo, efforts by the government to spend within the annual budget has seen the slashing of funds meant for several developmental programs.

“Technically, they want to cut off GHc 200 million from the expenditure for this year because they just don’t have money to implement those programs. The other development authorities are going through similar challenges, all to ensure that at the end, a total of 1.38 billion Ghana cedis will not be spent in 2017; thereby denying the people of Ghana the opportunity to benefit from these programs.”

He added that “…they are not serious, they are deceiving the people of Ghana and they really didn’t intend to implement any of those programs this year. There is nothing to show for 2017 except the launching of mediocre projects.”

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By: Marie-Franz Fordjoe/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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He said the 219.5 million cedis allocated to the Ministry by the Akuffo-Addo administration would go a long way to resource inhabitants of Zongos to work and build good secular schools for the overall advancement of that faction of society.

Mr. Boniface was speaking to journalists at the ‘Eighth stakeholders’ consultation on the Zongo Development Fund Bill’ at Appollo in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan area of the Western Region.

The consultative meeting with more than 24 different Muslim groupings was to seek their inputs on areas of pertinent concerns, and what benefits the setting up of the Fund could bring to such communities to enhance infrastructure and sanitation as well as control crime.

The Minister said the Fund Bill, when approved by Parliament, would be used to provide sanitary facilities, security and crime control, lighting systems, drains and roads and other critical infrastructure.

Mr. Boniface said development over the years had been dis-integrative with focus on urban centres to the neglect of areas such as the Zongos and slums.

“It is time to shift the focus of development to these areas where poverty continues to breed lots of criminals and as we are all aware, poverty and crime are bed fellows.”

The Zongo Development Fund Bill, according to the Minister, would be put before Parliament by next week to solicit their support in legitimizing the Fund to enable the Ministry kick start projects by September.

Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, Western Region Minister, said the region is prepared to support the Minister and the Ministry to achieve the objectives it had set out to realize.

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Source: GNA

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[contextly_sidebar id=”wPqjoNfZDbqgoO2FwSN6puW2Yf5XbgAI”] Speaking to Citi News during a tour of Zongos in Banda in the Karachi Nchumuru District of the Volta Region, the Minister said: “I am very optimistic that by middle of this month [July], I should place it before Cabinet and Cabinet can place it before Parliament.”

Abubakar Siddick said collating the views of stakeholders represents an important aspect of the yet to be presented bill.

As a campaign promise, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), had pledged to establish a Zongo development fund to regenerate Zongo communities across the country.

Vision for Zongo Development Fund

Government indicated that it plans to prioritize five programme areas under the fund to deal with vulnerabilities in these communities.

The priority areas which form part of government’s 2017 action plan, will address the current state of Zongos which are challenged with poverty, illiteracy and high levels of social and economic vulnerabilities.

Already,government has allocated more than 200 million cedis for activities under the fund in the 2017 budget.

Skepticism from Muslim community

Following the NPP’s elections victory, a Muslim community leader, Sheikh Aremeyaw Shaibu had expressed doubt that Zongo communities around the country will see any significant transformation under the NPP government.

Sheikh Aremeyaw Shaibu, who also doubles as the Spokesperson for the National Chief Imam, said the situation in the Zongo community might remain the same.

He suggested that the various governments have resorted to what he calls the culture of “tokenism” to exploit the Zongo communities for their benefit.

“Even the politicians themselves underrate the intelligence of our leaders and that is what explains the tokenism, the token approach to what they do to respond to the needs of the Muslim community. One of this is to dwell on giving Muslims bags of sugar and rice during Ramadan. As a Muslim community leader, I am looking forward to see how NPP will live up to its expectation.”

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According to him, the implementation of government’s projects for those communities will be spearheaded by Regional and District Secretariats to enhance accountability and sustain the projects.

He is therefore calling for support from all stakeholders at the local level to help bring positive change to the Zongos.

Hon. Abubakar Saddique Boniface made these known to the press after separate stakeholder consultative meetings with leaders and residents of Zongo communities in Prang, Yeji, Techiman and Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region, to deliberate on the Zongo Development Fund, and outline key areas for the utilization of the fund for the welfare of beneficiaries.

He disclosed that Zongo communities in the country have different needs and challenges, and therefore appealed to stakeholders to use the tour as a platform to share experiences as well as conduct needs assessment to enable him have first-hand information on some of their challenges.

He said the Fund has been allocated a seed money of  GHc218 million, and its application will focus on Infrastructure, Sanitation, Economic Empowerment, Social Development, Cultural Promotion, Security and Crime Management in the Zongo communities, after the needed regulation and structures are put in place.

“Residents of these communities need portable water drinking, proper drainage system, good roads, Electricity, Schools and Hospitals and government through the Zongo Development Fund will address some of these critical needs”, he said.

On Economic Empowerment, the Minister mentioned capacity building in entrepreneurial skills for the youth, to make them employable and develop the country’s human resource through education and efficient health delivery systems.

Hon. Saddique Boniface explained that for proper management of the Fund, every district will have a functioning secretariat and advisory councils to deliberate on their needs and interest areas for implementation.

“In fact, the bottom up approach will be used in dealing with the communities and their various needs, hence my engagement today is to listen to the people, hear their concerns to enable me to fashion out solutions to their challenges”, he said.

He gave the assurance that the Ministry will not be a conduit for corruption, and therefore encouraged stakeholders and contractors who will execute the projects to take advantage of local content to employ the youth in the beneficiary communities.

The Regional Minister, Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh, commended the Minister for the visit and pledged the region’s preparedness to support the initiative aimed at improving the well-being of residents.

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By: Mashoud Kombat/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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He said the scholarship would be provided to brilliant but needy students at all levels of education.

[contextly_sidebar id=”7QL9fKJWr3BE4p8MP47jKaM7eU0hQwcx”]Alhaji Sadique made the statement when he interacted with some members of the Zongo communities at a meeting in Sunyani.

He explained that the Fund would be used to establish Islamic Senior High Schools, hospitals and also provide business support to Muslim entrepreneurs.

Alhaji Sadique said sanitation ought to be improved in Zongo communities to control the outbreak of diseases.

In an open forum, some Muslim parents expressed concern about the poor standard of education among Muslim youth in the area.

They observed that school dropout rates were high and attributed it partly to poor educational infrastructure.

Hajia Fati Abass, one of the parents also expressed concern about drug abuse among the youth in the communities, and appealed to security agencies to help bring the situation under control.

$50 million dollars was allocated to the Zongo Development Fund, which was a line item in the 2017 budget.

The sector minister had previously spoken about how education was part of the priority areas of the fund; including the stocking of libraries, helping to rehabilitate schools in the zongos and empowering Arabic instructors.

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Source: GNA

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According to Dr. Bawumia, the government is committed to ensuring that this year’s pilgrimage comes off without the hitches which have been associated with the process in the past.

[contextly_sidebar id=”iD8r8GTMcESEjcru0blRqaEuIVc0rpOT”]Addressing some Muslims at Shama in the Western Region, Dr. Bawumia said: “After the prayer and fasting this month, we’ll be preparing to leave for Hajj. We’ve instituted some measures to make this year’s pilgrimage a smooth one. We’ll prompt you before you get to the Hajj village by sending text messages to all who applied for this year’s pilgrimage. This is to remove all challenges that have been associated with the process in the past.”  

This will come as welcome news to pilgrims, who have over the years struggled to undertake this sacred trip due to the myriad of challenges that have characterized the process.

In 2016, hundreds of prospective pilgrims were left stranded at the Hajj Village, leading to fears that they would not be able to embark on the pilgrimage.

The immediate past National Hajj Board also confirmed that it left behind a debt of GHc23 million accrued from organizing the 2016 pilgrimage to Mecca.

First Batch to leave August 10

The National Hajj Board announced that the first batch of Muslims embarking on this year’s pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, will leave Ghana on August 10, 2017.

The board has said a total of six flights will fly directly from the Northern Regional capital, Tamale, to Saudi Arabia.

The board has also started publishing the names of Muslims who will be participating in this year’s exercise to minimize the challenges associated with the annual event.

The spokesperson for the Board told Citi News his outfit is introducing some new measures to ensure an incident free hajj.

“We’ll fulfill other promises”

Dr. Bawumia also assured the residents of the government’s continued commitment towards the fulfillment of the promises they had made prior to the 2016 elections.

He stated that money had already been allocated to the Zongo development Fund and also assured parents that the free SHS programme would commence for new students in September.

This, he said was in appreciation for the “overwhelming support” the NPP received in the 2016 polls.

“We promised a lot of things prior to the elections and we’re fulfilling them. We have allocated Ghc 219 million for the Zongo Development Fund,” Dr. Bawumia added.

“The President also promised free Senior High School Education. By the grace of God, we’ll start rolling out the policy this September.”

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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At least this is the assurance from Akufo-Addo’s spokesperson, Mustapha Hamid who made the remark on Eyewitness News on Thursday.

According to him, the NPP is bent on ensuring that the promise is fulfilled.

[contextly_sidebar id=”nhGJFe0V2ewnrAMCEjrOxRKdY3M5TqmZ”]“During the Kufuor era we said we will pay Arabic school teachers and we did it. Beyond that, we have said that we are going to establish a Zongo development fund which will do a broad range of things…and we will see it in the very first budget. And I’m sure by March or April the budget of the new NPP government will be read and people will see concretely that these are not mere campaign sloganeering and that we mean to put the structures in place so that skepticism could be erased forever.”

Mustapha Hamid made the remark on the back of doubts expressed by a Muslim community leader, Sheikh Aremeyaw Shaibu, who was adamant about Akufo-Addo’s promises to the Zongos.

The NDC in its 2016 manifesto promised promised to boost development in Zongo communities by setting up a Zongo development fund to champion that vision.

But Sheikh Aremeyaw Shaibu, who also doubles as the spokesperson for the National Chief Imam, said things might remain the same.

“I have lived my life in this country across different political dispensations. I challenge everyone to tell me exactly what has changed. Not much has changed. The Muslim community, particularly the Zongo remains a disadvantaged community and that is why there is so much poverty, there is so much redundancy and lack of progress and it is reflecting in the attitudes of the people within the Zongo.”

“In fact, we are watching and some of the things we have said against other governments we will say against NPP if they don’t fulfill their promises. The past governments have exploited Hajj and they have given the impression that government sponsors Hajj. Government doesn’t sponsor Hajj; but government has exploited the Hajj,” he noted.

However, Akufo-Addo’s spokesperson said his party won’t let Muslims down.

“Nobody is ever going to be able to create heaven on earth, but he will contribute his modest best to ensure a certain descent and comfortable life for our zongo communities within human limit,” Mr. Hamid added.

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Prof. Ahwoi who is also a local government expert argued that the NPP’s promise to establish a ‘Zongo Development Fund’ is a ploy to attract votes and not a pledge they will honour.

He explained that the NPP resisted the decision to give Muslims public holidays just because they considered them to be a minority group that did not deserve a public holiday.

[contextly_sidebar id=”IqnmZZnBAi71IpxXyl05S0KiBpJPbGCR”]”I was a minister in former President Rawlings’ government when we wanted to give Muslims public holidays, the NPP resisted it. In fact we suffered,” he said.

He pointed out that the same people are today saying they love the Zongos and wish to establish a “Zongo Development Fund” to advance the cause of Muslims, but it’s a pure and absolute lies and political propaganda.

He said while the NDC was making a case for the two days holidays for Muslims, the NPP resisted the move.

Ahwoi said the NDC ensured that Muslims were given recognition with Eid Adah and Eid Fitr being declared holidays.

He said this when the Chief of Staff and his team met Imams and people of Takoradi Zongo.

He told the excited crowd that though President Mahama and his Veep are not Northerners, they are very much committed to working with the Chiefs and people of the Zongo communities to address their concerns.

“President Mahama and vice President Amissah Arthur are committed to the cause of the Zongos and the evidence is there for all to see.”

He said the vice presidential candidate of the NPP is a Muslim, but Islam is not practised by word of mouth but acts that conform to Islam.

The Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah urged the people to vote massively for President John Dramani Mahama in the upcoming general elections to ensure socio-economic development in the country.

The team with the Chief of Staff include, a member of the NDC campaign team madam Faustina Nelson, Deputy Minister of Communication Ato Sarpong, Presidential staffer Emelia Arthur and some national and regional executives.

‘NPP has never liked Zongo Communities’ 

Prof. Ahwoi’s comments comes after the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Alhaji Collins Dauda told the people in Zongos in the country not to vote for the NPP.

According to him, the NPP is a party that discriminates against their kind.

“People from the UP [United Party] tradition are not our friends and such we should not be in bed with them. They are people the Zongo community cannot rely on… They are like lions, no matter what, they will not have good intentions for us,” he added.

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