WHY MUSLIMS AND THE PEOPLE OF ZONGO MUST VOTE AGAINST THE NDC

WHY MUSLIMS AND THE PEOPLE OF ZONGO MUST VOTE AGAINST THE NDC

IDDI MUHAYU-DEEN FOLDER

Are you a Muslim? Are you a resident or an indigene of Zongo? And are you a sympathizer of the NDC? Do you intend to vote for the NDC tomorrow? Then I have a message for you, which should make you RECONSIDER your political affiliation. To start with, are you aware that the NDC has no plans or policy for Muslims and for that matter the good people of Zongo? In their entire 78 paged 2016 manifesto, nowhere has the party made mention of Zongo. 

In the next four years, the John Mahama NDC is NOT pledging anything for our Zongos. They really DO NOT CARE about you. This is because the party thinks that you are NOT discerning enough and that, you will vote for them no matter how they disregard you. Are you aware that your leader, Awal Mohammed (Deputy National Communications Director for the NDC Zongo Caucus) actually defected from the NDC and joined the NPP because of this reason? 

In a statement he issued on 5^th October, 2016, communicating his defection to the NPP, Awal Mohammed expressed grave disappointment that the NDC did not state any policy to address the concerns of Zongo communities in their 2016 manifesto. “The NDC launched its manifesto some weeks ago. I read through the 78 paged document and to my uttermost dismay, there is no mention of a single policy dedicated to Zongo. As a Zongo boy, I felt we have been given a raw deal”, Awal laments in his statement on October 5 before defecting to the NPP, which he claims has more than enough for Zongos. 

You can’t love the NDC more than this chap [Awal Mohammed], who was in fact, my senior at the University. So if today, he has left the NDC because they have nothing for Zongos (his constituents), then what are you still doing in that party? Are you also aware that the NDC perceives the people living in Zongo as aliens, who do not deserve to occupy any better position in this country? I hope you remember a certain Fiifi Kwertey [a Minister of State] saying Muslims are unfit to rule this country. 

You also remember Solomon Nkansah’s [NDC National Communications Director] outburst on UTV, an Accra based television station during their late news bulletin on Friday, 19^th February, 2016 referring to the inhabitants of Zongos as non-Ghanaians (aliens) and ought to be treated as second fiddles. What about Eric Opoku (the current Brong Ahafo Regional Minister) who sought to use our Holy Book, the Quran for mischievous propaganda meant to favour the NDC. This is the greatest attack on Islam.

How can a non-Muslim, who has no idea about the provisions in the Holy Quran attempt to give false interpretation to the words of Allah for political expediency and without recourse to the religious sensitivities of Muslims? How reckless could that be! If this had happened in other jurisdictions, it would have occasioned a major religious upheaval and pandemonium which could claim several lives. I’m sure Muslims will show the NDC their anger when they go to the polls tomorrow (December 7). 

On the other hand, the NPP has shown enough commitments to Zongos. For instance, unlike the NDC, the NPP has dedicated two pages (66 and 67) of their manifesto to talk extensively about how the they intend to transform the fortunes of our Zongos with the establishment of the Zongo Development Fund. The NPP recognizes the fact that over the years, Zongo communities have been ‘left behind’ in national development planning. 

The NPP Zongo policy is thus, aimed at developing these communities in order to unleash their full potentials. In this direction, the party is establishing this Fund to, among other things, invest in education and training within the Zongos, invest in improved infrastructure in the Zongos targeting health and sanitation, as well to support local businesses in the Zongos to grow and provide several job opportunities.    

 

The NPP again proposes to make the Arabic language one of the core subjects in our basic schools as well as the establishment of Special Schools for the training of Islamic scholars. You would recall that when the NPP was in government, Islamic instructors (Malams) and Imams were paid special allowance/salaries from the Consolidated Fund, a policy which was scrapped by the NDC when they came to power in 2009. 

I am, in the light of this, calling on all Muslims across the country to rise up to the occasion on Decemder 7 and say a big no to the prevailing culture of mediocrity and condescension; no to the lies and deception; no to incompetence; no to frustration and hopelessness by KICKING OUT this clueless NDC government and bringing back the tried and tested NPP to RIGHT the wrongs of our society for the love of God and country. Muslims deserve better!  The good people of Zongo deserve better.

Assalamu alaikum

This piece was compiled by a concerned Ghanaian in the business of OCCUPYING HEARTS and MINDS for the love of God and country.

IDDI MUHAYU-DEEN

A Concerned Zongo Boy

Crusader for CHANGE

(0245335197)

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