The first batch of 40 students from Zongo, deprived and inner city communities will leave Ghana for Cuba next month to study medicine, Vice President Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has announced.
He said the government would send more students from the beneficiary communities every year to study medicine in Cuba.
Speaking last Sunday at the annual celebration of the birth of Prophet Muhammad in New Fadama, Accra, Dr Bawumia said the move formed part of efforts to develop the human resource of Zongos and other communities.
This , the Vice President said, was in fulfilment of the government’s promise to the people of Zongo communities during the electioneering campaign to bridge the infrastructural and development deficit between Zongos and other communities.
The Vice President who is a regular attendant at the birth of Prophet Mohammad also known as Maulid said the government had salvaged the country from the economic quagmire it inherited from the previous administration.
Already, Dr Bawumia said the government was implementing a number of programmes including Planting for Food and Jobs, One District- One-Factory, One -Village-One-Dam and One- District One-Warehouse among others.
He told the celebrants that 1.2 million Ghanaian children were enjoying Free Senior High School education, a flagship programme of the government which aimed at providing free, accessible and quality education to all Ghanaian children.
Similarly, the Vice President stated that the government was undertaking water, educational and infrastructure projects with some at various stages of completion in Zongo communities.
He said the Zongo Development Fund under the Ministry of Zongo and Inner City Development was constructing Astro turf (foot ball parks) and other projects.
Dr Bawumia said Maulid was a reminder to Muslims that Prophet Muhammad was a great mercy to mankind.
He stated that the exemplary lifestyle of Prophet Muhammad had become a template for acceptable human behaviour.
According to him, the birth of Prophet Muhammad brought Muslims and other religions together, adding that it promoted tolerance and co-existence.
He observed that patience, tolerance and peace were virtues upon which peaceful societies were built and said Muslims were obligated to uphold those virtues.
The Vice President noted that Islam meant peace, while tolerance was a fundamental requirement for achieving peace at all levels- individual, community and state.
While thanking the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Dr Osman Nuhu Sharubutu for his role in promoting peace in Ghana and beyond, he said the Muslim leader embodied the values of Islam.
Dr Bawumia said Dr Sharubutu’s recent visit to a church in Accra did not only earn him international recognition as a man of unity but earned Ghana the respect as a peaceful nation among the comity of nations.
He said the best gift Muslims could offer to the National Chief Imam was to emulate his traits.
BY MALIK SULLEMANA
