Zongo Chiefs And Imams Advised To Refrain From Politics

Hon. Ismaila Ali Horoya, NDC Gt. Accra Regional Zongo Caucus Coordinator

The newly elected Greater Accra Zongo Caucus Coordinator, for the opposition NDC, Mr. Ismaila Ali Horoya has advised chiefs and imams in the zongos to stay out of politics.

Mr. Horoya noted that the Imams and Chiefs should stay out of the political landscapes in order for them to be respected and accepted by the people.

In a press release signed and issued in Accra, the Coordinator asked the chiefs to mind what they say to politicians whenever the latter pay courtesy or working visits on them.

This press statement was released in reaction to what a respected Chief in Nima recently said when Dr. Mustapha Abdul Hamid, the Minister for Zongo and Inner Cities, paid a working visit on him. According to Mr. Horoya the praises heaped on Dr. Hamid are purely political which must be eschewed by our revered leaders.

The statement continued that the chiefs and imams play important roles in the socio-economic advancement of Ghana and must therefore not engage themselves in active politics if they are to be taken serious and neutral.

He entreated Chiefs and imams to desist from endorsing any political party or candidate. ‘’Governments and parties come and go and if you endorse any candidate against the other, it won’t create a healthy and enabling environment for Zongos’ to develop’’.

Mr. Horoya admitted that both opposition NDC and ruling NPP have helped champion the causes of Muslims in Ghana and for that matter the revered chief shouldn’t had singled out the NPP as the only political party that had helped the Ghanaian Muslim.

He pinpointed certain policies implemented by the NDC that favored the Muslim population of Ghana. He mentioned among other things that it was the NDC party; the first to recognized the need to give Muslims a holiday in Ghana during the Eidu’l Fitr and Adha festivals respectively.

He pointed out that it was the NDC that made the office of the National Chief Imam recognizable and vibrant, the establishment of the Muslim Education Unit under the Ghana Education Service, [GES], the hajj village to camp would-be pilgrims, airlifting of Muslims to the holy land of Mecca for the hajj pilgrimage, among other things.

He said even though the NPP had twice appointed a Muslim as Vice Presidents of Ghana, the NDC also did appointed a Muslim in the person of Hon. Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, in 2004 as a running mate to then candidate late Prof. John Evans Atta Mills.

The NDC Regional Coordinator was of the view that even though the Chiefs and Imams have their civic rights to vote for whoever they prefer, they are not permitted or expected to engage in active politics or seen to be endorsing any political party or candidate.

He therefore entreated the noble chiefs and imams to refrain from active politics which may jeopardize their well-built reputations as the custodians of truth, peace, culture and religion in the communities.

‘’ We must all recognize the important and neutral roles played by our Imams and Chiefs and must therefore not drag them into politics’’ he advised his fellow politicians