'Polls Not Do Or Die'

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THE CHIEF Imam, Sheikh Usman Nuhu Sharabutu has debunked assertions that the upcoming general election is a 'do or die affair', saying, “The coming poll is normal just as any election held in the country”.

The election, he said, would be an incident-free one, and charged all and sundry to play meaningful roles to ensure that.

Sheikh Sharabutu cautioned those unduly hyping the election and creating unnecessary tension and panic among the citizenry to desist from that.

The Chief Imam made the remarks in a speech read on his behalf by Ustaz Ahmed Saeed during the Second National Conference of the Tijaniya Muslim Movement in Kumasi last Saturday.

He charged the populace, particularly politicians, to stress on every available platform that Ghanaians, as discerning as they are, “are firmly in control of their own affairs and would emerge from the election as a peaceful nation”.

He added, “We run our country, we produce the results of our actions, and we must be responsible for the outcome of this year's elections”, reiterating his call for all to contribute to a peaceful election.

Under the theme, 'Unity, Peace and Violence-Free Election - The Role of the Tijaniyya Muslim', the three-day conference was hugely patronized by Muslims and politicians from the political divide.

Sheikh Sharabutu opined that the country could effectively eradicate poverty and move forward in prosperity only when the populace embraced peace, unity and love for one another.

He thus entreated all to work towards ensuring a violence-free election, indicating it was the duty of every citizen to work towards protecting the peaceful atmosphere prevailing in the country.

“We are gradually leaving the era where governments and institutions determine the shape of the future, and entering an era where the future will largely be shaped by individuals.”

The Chief Imam charged politicians “not only to condition the minds of the electorate with sugar-coated promises and vague slogans when they know the plight of an ordinary Ghanaian, but efforts should also be made to inculcate financial discipline and proper planning as some tools that will complement the efforts of government in building a better life for the individual”.

He urged political parties in the country to observe the Political Parties Code of Conduct which was launched recently, and entreated chiefs to also become the symbol of peace, unity and synergistically solve the chieftaincy disputes in the country, insisting, these would go a long way to sustain the peace of the country during the election.

Sheikh Sharabutu deplored the situation where Muslim youth were always hired by politicians to carry out diabolical acts on their behalf during electioneering campaigns, warning the Zongo youth not to avail themselves to be used by any selfish politician.

He implored them to rather embrace education because it was the only way to ensure prosperity in life, adding that as efforts were being made to make education accessible to the Muslim youth, the Tijaniyya Muslim Movement of Ghana had embarked on such a venture.

“The movement had purchased a 26.50-acre land at Asokore in the Sekyere East District for the sole purpose of building a state-of-the-art Senior High School.

“The first phase of the project, estimated at GH¢370,000 has been completed while our next focus of the project is to seek for the completion of the project and hoping to start running the academic programmes.”

The occasion was also used to launch a book on the Tijaniyya Movement, the first copy of which was bought at GH¢1000 by Sheikh Mustafa Ibrahim, Chairman for the event.

In his remark, Hon Boniface Abubakar Saddique, Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, who represented the Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, emphatically stated that peace, unity and oneness was all that the county needed now and called on Ghanaians to work towards that.

He stated that irrespective of their political differences, Ghanaians were one people with a common destiny, thus there was the need for them to shun all acts of vandalism during this election year.

Hon. Saddique noted that Ghana was under the microscopic watch of the world so the citizenry should make every effort to emerge from the election with the peace of the country intact, because “united we stand, divided we fall”.

“We have to prove to the world that we are civilized people who know the importance of peace by conducting a violence-free election in December,” he said, noting “hopefully, we will have a violence-free election”.

From Fred J.A. Ibrahim Jnr., Kumasi