Despite Ghana’s multi-ethnic and multi-cultural environment, Ghanaian society is both diverse and inclusive with tolerance and peaceful co-existence.
These virtues were in full display when Jane Nana Opoku-Agyeman of the National Democratic Congress visited the Muslim Community in the Central region.
Apart from that, Ghana is also multi-confessional, although Christians form much of the population, there is a sizeable number of Muslims and people of other religious persuasions.
The visit was intended to strengthen the existing bond between the party and the Muslim Community.
She made a substantial donation of items which included 100 cartons of milk and sugar each, 14 boxes of tea, 12 bags of maize and beans, along with pineapples and oranges to name a few.
Furthermore, the visit is meant to avail her to the community and facilitate interaction between the opposition party and Muslims in the region.
It is also noteworthy to state that, as a religious minority, Muslims live in a community known as Zongo and there are many Zongos dotted across the length and breadth of Ghana.
Reviving the Grassroot
Despite NDC predominance in the Zongos, the party has seen a slight decline in its fortune in the community.
Previously, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was virtually nonexistent in Zongos across the country, but through the work of the ruling party’s Nasara wing and some tailor-made policies like the establishment of the Zongo Development Fund, the NPP has made inroads and is now ubiquitous alongside the NDC as a force to reckon with in Zongo politics nationwide.
Moreover, since independence, no Muslim has been elected as a President or a flagbearer of any major political party in the country.
By electing Vice President Bawumia to lead the NPP into the 2024 Presidential election, the party appears poised to snatch a chunk of Zongo votes as much as it intends to grab substantial votes from Northern Ghana.
The New Patriotic Party’s Presidential ticket has heightened the relevance of Zongos and Muslim votes to the 2024.
Zongo at Glance
Ethnically and culturally, Zongo is as diverse as the country itself.
The name Zongo loosely translates as a trade camp or informal settlement in the Hausa language which is a lingua Franca.
It foretells that the origin of this community was the trading post of Hausa Merchants who were later joined by other ethnic groups from Northern Ghana and other parts of West Africa.
However, besides Hausa, Islam is another strong feature of Zongo identity. Hitherto, Zongos were exclusively Muslim but recently, other religions reside there as well, and huge churches are present there to cater to the spiritual needs of non-Muslim residents.
Challenges, Relevance, and Solution
Nonetheless, Zongo remains Muslim-dominated despite undergoing some demographic shifts.
The community is faced with several challenges. Having recognized the importance of the community and its unique demography, both NDC and NPP are vying to dislodge each other as the first party of choice among residents.
Both NDC and NPP have Zongo Caucus and Nasara wing respectively as branches that are intended to give the community a say in party matters.
Additionally, several skills acquisition opportunities are made available to the teeming youth of the community to mitigate its high youth and general unemployment situation in the community.
In addition, during President Nana Addo’s first term in office, a whole ministry was created to address the peculiar problems bedeviling the Zongos. It is this kind of policy initiative that is making the New Patriotic Party look far attractive than the National Democratic Congress for some people.
It is laudable that both political parties are striving to remedy and better the life of a Zongo person in the same way they are working round the clock to improve upon the situation of every Ghanaian.
That said, politics of the past, saw the exuberant young Zongo male as a tool to foment political violence like fighting and ballot box snatching after must also be eliminated.
With Vice President Bawumia a Northern Muslim on the Ticket for NPP, will Zongo vote for it is Bawumai or stick to the NDC despite some demographic and preferential shifts recently?
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