The Ghanaian Minaret

Accra – The Chairman of the Muslim Caucus of Parliament, Muntaka Mubarak, has advised Muslim stakeholders against leveraging the National Muslim Conference (NMC) to champion parochial interests.

He urged Muslim representatives of various political, religious, and traditional groupings to make serving Allah and humanity their primary motive for working together for economic empowerment and eradicating extreme poverty among Muslims in the country.

“Let me not take political advantage of this, and let you not take advantage of what we are doing. Let us do this sincerely for the Ummah. If we come to the table with our hidden agenda and plans, we will crash this programme. And if we crash this thing, Allah will never forgive us,” he said.

Mr. Muntaka, who made the remarks at the opening of the second edition of the National Muslim Conference, said Muslims needed to raise the necessary resources to finance activities, adding that, “we need to generate resources locally and internationally to be able to implement our programme.”.

“We intend to put up model schools and health facilities to meet the needs of Ghanaian Muslims. We need to put up technical and vocational training centres to lift our people out of poverty through skills development and competitive entrepreneurial capabilities.

“We need to reform our educational and Makaranta systems to meet the changing demands of time, or our people will perish in the next century,” he said.

The conference was organised by the Muslim Caucus of Parliament in partnership with the National Chief Imam and the heads of various religious leaders in the country.

The theme for the conference was “Towards a Coherent and Holistic Economic Empowerment Strategy for National Development: The Ghanaian Muslim Ummah in Context”.

Dr. Mahmud Bawumia, the Vice President of Ghana, said establishing the NMC is a step in the right direction as it provides a more structured consultative forum between the government and stakeholders in the Zango community on thematic areas of education, health, finance, and economic empowerment.

He, therefore, said it behoves every Muslim to uphold the ideals of the NMC and see to its success as it makes a meaningful contribution to the development of the nation.

“For our government, breaking the development gap between the less privileged communities and others is important for the overall growth of our country,” he said.

Sheikh Usman Nuhu Sharubutu, the National Chief Imam, enjoined Muslims to guard the peace and tranquilly in the country and be grateful to God for the stability the country enjoys compared to its neighbours.

Dr. Aminu Bonsu, the founder of the Ghana Muslim Mission, said Muslims must put aside their differences and shun pettiness to cooperate and strengthen the Muslim community’s capacity to serve the country better.

He claimed that, despite being a minority, unity among Muslims provides a chance to gather the funds required to launch programmes for human development.

The National Muslim Conference of Ghana, which is registered and therefore has a legal existence and, as such, can sue and be sued in a competent court of law, is established under a deed signed by the leaders of all Muslim groups in Ghana.

These include the Ahmadiyya, Tijaniyya, Ahlu Sunnah, Shia, the Ghana Muslim Mission, and the Muslim Caucus of Parliament.

It has an administrative structure where the National Chief Imam is the head of the institution and the chair of its governing body.

The second layer of the structure is the management board, which is currently chaired by a Member of Parliament, Alhassan Tampuli.

The Management Board comprises members and officers of Parliament, selected Muslim professionals in the fields of education, health, engineering, law, and finance, as well as representatives of all the Muslim sects in Ghana.

It has committees to deal with issues of education, health, finance, law, and publicity, among others.

The conference also has a secretariat, which, at full capacity, is expected to have finance, legal, education, and health directorates.

The secretariat, which is headed by the General Secretary, would be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the activities of the conference, including the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes to be considered and approved by the Board and the Governing Body.

The conference will, among other things, serve as a mouthpiece for all Muslims on matters of mutual concern, provide a forum to deliberate on national policies and programmes, and provide opportunities for Muslims to participate in the legislative process through the submission of memoranda to committees of parliament.

It also intends to represent Muslims and seek redress in the courts of the land on matters affecting the legal and fundamental rights of Muslims in Ghana.