Vice President lauds peaceful coexistence of Muslims and Christians in Western Region
The Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, has lauded the peaceful coexistence among Christians and the Muslim Communities to sustain the blessing of God and advance the development of the country.
He said, “We are blessed as a nation by God and it is important that we continue in that spirit for the future of our country, to carry the vision and mission of Ghana to advance its development “.
The Vice President said this at the first leg of his two-day official visit to the two regions of the West to celebrate the Ramadan season, offer prayers and show solidarity as Muslims embark on one of their important pillars to ask for forgiveness, grace and blessings in the coming year.
The Veep’s entourage first visited the traditional palace of the Mpohor traditional area where he exchanged greeting and engaged the chiefs on issues affecting the well being of that community.
The Muslim faithful were supported with items including rice, sugar and milk in helping to break the fast.
The Western Regional Minister, Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, Minister of State at the Office of the Vice President, Alhaji Abubakar Boniface Saddique, and Deputy Minister of Energy, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam accompanied the Vice president on his Visit.
He said: “As we pray for God’s guidance and blessings, we must continue to remain united and God will grant us grace, peace and the desired development and all the benefits in the 10th day of prayer and fasting.”
The Vice President ended the three prayers of the: Zurib, Asr and Magrib with the largest Muslim community at Kamgbunli in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region.
He mentioned that the government, within the two years in office, had shown strong commitment to the welfare of Muslims and Zongos in the country, with the creation of the Zongo Development Fund and the Ministry of Inner City and Zongo Development, arguing that this feat had never been achieved in Ghana’s political history.
“About 60 years of Ghana’s development, the budget of the country had never captured any funding for the Zongos. We have established the Zongo Development Fund to ensure the consistent development at the Zongos.
Dr Bawumia noted that Kamgbunli was a very disciplined Muslim community and was happy to have joined them in prayers and also break the fast, saying that “ prayer was key to every Muslim.”
He said the government’s one district, one factory programme, was taking shape while the one district, one village , one dam was also on course to accelerate agricultural production, saying that, already fertilizers had been distributed to farmers, countrywide.
The backlog of about 54,000 nursing trainees since 2012, he said, had also been cleared whiles another 100,000 graduates had been roped into the National Brigade Corps (NABCO) programme adding, “We want all Ghanaians to benefit from our development plans and programmes.
“We have not finished; we are working around the clock gradually, we will get to all communities in the country, 275 Mercedes Benz ambulances will soon arrive and we will take delivery for distribution as part of the one district one ambulance programme for the health sector,” he assured.
The Chief Imam of the Al Sunnah Community in Kamgbunli, Sheikh Suleimana Mozu, told the faithful to believe and rely on God especially as they celebrated the Ramadan month.
The Vice President also joined Muslims at the Axim Central Mosque where Sheikh Abubakar led the 1500 hours prayers, praying for grace, unity and peace in the country, stating that the occasion would ensure fruitful interactions with Dr Bawumia entourage.
Dr. Sheikh Mustapha Hamid said Islam promoted brotherliness among the faithful and encouraged them to keep up that spirit.
Source: GNA