Zongo Promise Made Good

It started as a manifesto entry to the effect that a Zongo Ministry would be established to cater for the peculiar needs of an important segment of Ghana, the Zongo.

And it came to pass that on being elected, President Nana Akufo Addo created an Inner City And Zongo Development Ministry in fulfillment of his promise. Elsewhere in this edition, a story has it that a Chief Executive Officer and a Deputy for the Zongo Development Fund (ZDF), an important component of the journey to turning the fortunes of the Zongos around, have been appointed. By this presidential diktat, pending the Public Service Commission procedures, the journey towards achieving the objectives of the Zongo Ministry has begun.

At this stage, therefore, those who have mastered the art of playing on the intelligence of the gullible, following the promise of a Zongo Ministry, can no longer continue with their ruses and propaganda in their bid to reduce the esteem of government in the eyes of Zongo indigenes.

It is often said that a town or city without a Zongo is not worth even passing a night in – a suggestion that every town or city in Ghana has a Zongo settlement.

The neglect residents of these settlements have endured since pre-independence days must be reversed; which is exactly what the then Candidate Akufo Addo promised and which is coming to pass. When he uttered the Zongo development promise, it was dismissed by his political opponents as a mere political trick to win votes when elections are due.

The ZDF, the operational appendage of the Zongo Ministry, is on the verge of being activated with the appointment by Mr. President.

The Zongo project, if you like, is dear to the heart of the President – his political opponents ready to scrutinize the progress thereof for propaganda purposes.

Those who have been appointed must be wary of the many prying eyes and perform their pioneering roles with diligence and propriety, especially, since history is on their side. A test for their success would certainly be the development of the appropriate infrastructure in the Zongos and the provision of the enabling environment to change the lot of the residents.

We shall expect the appointees to effect a productive interface between their office and the flagship educational policy in the country today so that children in these deprived areas would be encouraged to avail themselves of the rare opportunity. Children from these parts of the country continue to lag behind on this score – the gap between them and their counterparts not narrowing admiringly. More needs to be done and this is where the ZDF comes in handy.

Considering the experience of the appointees, we have no doubt in our minds that with the appropriate support from their publics, they would live up to expectation. The success of the government of President Akufo Addo would depend on how well his interventions, one of them being the ZDF, achieve the goals for which they were initiated.

We wish the pioneers, the CEO and his Deputy, Godspeed.