Akufo-Addo to Muslim clerics: Decision to unite under one corporate body apt

President Akufo-Addo has expressed great delight in the decision of all the Islamic sects in Ghana to unity under one corporate body to be known has the National Muslim Conference (NMC), describing the move as apt.

The decision according to President Akufo-Addo, is a welcoming development that will go a long way to guarantee the peaceful co-existence of all Muslims in Ghana and improve relations between Muslims and the State.

Addressing a delegation of all Muslims sects in Ghana led by the Chief Imam, Shiekh Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu, at the Jubilee House on Tuesday 4 October 2022, when they paid a courtesy call on him to formally announce the formation of the NMC, President Akufo-Addo, said the development is one that is worth emulating by other religious groupings in the country.

“It is extremely important what has happened here the [Jubilee House] today. The country is being told that all the key Muslim sects, Tijjaniya, Sunnī, Shīʿa, Ahmadiyya, have all come together under one organization to represent the Muslim community, to be its mouthpiece and to be its representative and to deal with the State and the government at all levels in this corporate form” President Akufo-Addo said.

“This is very happy news and I am very happy about what has happened here today. In the Christian community, there are three different organizations, there is the Catholic Conference, there is the Christian Council and there is the Charismatic and Pentecostal Council. They have not come under one grouping yet but you have, so, we have to congratulate you on being able to do that” the President added.

The NMC

The National Muslim Conference according to Alhaji Insah Mohammed, the General Secretary of the NMC, was incorporated on 20 December 2021 and it is a self-governing institutional mechanism with three main structures, namely, the governing body, the management board and the secretariat to be headed by him [Alhaji Insah Mohammed] as the General Secretary.

The body he added, was established by a deed signed by the National Chief Imam, the National Imams of all the Muslim groups in Ghana, including Chiefs as well as the chairman of the Muslim cuscus in Parliament.

“This institutional mechanism is meant to bring Muslims together to participate in the economic discourse of this country, especially in the areas of education, health, economic empowerment, and the strengthening of the financial conditions of Ghanaian Muslims and the nation at large, as well as to ensure that the legal and human rights of Muslims in Ghana are protected at all times” Alhaji Insah Mohammed said in his remarks on behalf of the delegation.

Recognition

In response to a request by the delegation for the State to officially recognize the NMC and to offer her all the necessary courtesies extended to such non-governmental organizations, President Akufo-Addo said he “cannot see any impediment to the State according that recognition.

“I think as a result of this visit, we would be in the position formally to write to you, respond to the letter that the Chief Imam wrote to me as far back as the 28 July 2022.

I want to say in advance that the demand for recognition will be positive and that the courtesies that are accorded, the recognition and protocols that are extended to the other religious bodies will also be extended to the national Muslim Conference” President Akufo-Addo said.

Attendance

Apart from the National Chief Imam Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu, who is also the Chairman of the National Muslim Conference, other Muslim clerics who attended the ceremony included Maulvi Mohammed Bin Sali, the Ameer (Head) and Missionary in charge of Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, and member of the National Muslim Conference.

The other were Saeed Alhaji Oman Ibrahim, representing the Sunni community in Ghana as the national Imam, Saeed Dr Amin Osei Bonsu, chairman of the Ghana Muslim Mission and Shiekh Abdul Wadud Ciessey, representing the Tijjaniya movement in Ghana as their national Imam.

Wilberforce Asare 

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