Muslims Confer On Leadership –

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A working groups in session

The Chairman of the Muslim Caucus
of Parliament, Banda Ben Abdallah has advised Muslims to steer away from the
disruptive meddling of politics as they discuss the leadership of the faith.

He was speaking on Saturday during
the opening session of a three day conference at the Accra Technical University,
themed, “Enhancing the Capacity of Muslim Leadership for Ghana’s Development”.

He said that the partisan nature of
politics, when allowed to enter the fray of Muslim leadership, would add to the
existing challenges posed by sectarianism in the faith.

“We must endeavour to suppress
political and sectarian difference in all our engagement with one another.
However, we must respect and maintain our sectarian faith,” he said.

The Member of Parliament (MP) for
Offinso South Constituency who was speaking at the opening of the maiden
National Conference of Muslim Representatives also mentioned ethnocentrism,
intolerance and selfishness as vices that should have no place steering the
affairs of Ghanaian Muslims.

Muslim stakeholders during the
programme tackled myriad challenges that hinged on rights of Muslim women and
leadership structures among others.

On how politics has over the years
impacted negatively on Islam a senior journalist, A.R. Gomda, in his
presentation on the contribution of Muslim leadership to Islamic development
gave an account of how political influences affected Muslim leadership in the
past.

“Under the regime of Kwame Nkrumah,
an Imam was removed from office as Imam of Accra because some Muslims didn’t
want him there and pressure was mounted on Nkrumah to have him removed from
office,” he said.

The issue of leadership among
Ghanaian Muslims, he said, had over the years suffered conflicts leading to disunity
among the Islamic front.

“The search for leadership for
Muslims in the country continues. With the architecture now changed, the
prominent existence of various sects and above all, the incumbent National
Chief Imam being the first to hold the position, underscores the importance of
such a conference,” he said.

He also mentioned that much needed
to be done regarding the establishment of structures to provide the faith with
the needed sustenance to play its role in national development.

The chairman of the conference,
Alhaji Mohammed Gado who is the Chairman of the Advisory Board of the National
Chief Imam highlighted the need for Muslims to harness resources and pull
talents together in a strategic and organised manner for the good of members of
the faith.

He also advised that “we need to establish our own schools, especially secular schools from nursery to senior high school to cater for our children.”