The Baraka Policy Institute (BPI), a think-tank organisation focused on promoting social justice and national development through research and advocacy, has organised a three-day leadership workshop for members of the Ghana Muslim Students Association (GMSA).
It brought together 89 national, regional and branch executives from tertiary institutions across the country and aimed at restructuring the administration and activities of GMSA to become more impactful.
Addressing participants at the closing ceremony yesterday in Accra, the Executive Director of BPI, Dr Haruna Zagoon-Sayeed, said the Institute identified the challenges of GMSA which included finance, administration and leadership.
He said GMSA was established to encourage and provide both Islamic and secular education among Muslims on the various campuses and beyond, but these challenges had hindered their performances over the years.
“GMSA represents the bulk of the Muslim youth in the country. We know the Muslim communities are deprived areas, and GMSA was to mentor the youth in these communities.
So, BPI decided to offer the leadership training for GMSA, to help build their capacity and assist them to refine their operations and activities to become more vibrant onwards,” Dr Zagoon-Sayeed said.
He said among the key areas to restructure GMSA was to draft a new constitution that would meet the expectation of Muslim students, stressing that; “BPI would help them come out with a new constitution that would be able to respond to contemporary needs of Muslims.”
The National President of GMSA, Alhassan Iddrisu Abdullai, said adequate funds to implement the agenda of GMSA was their key challenge and appealed to stakeholders to come to their aid.
He called on members of GMSA to pay their dues, explaining that the association’s office was currently without furniture, a situation hindering their operations.
BERNARD BENGHAN
