The Coordinator of the Zongo and Inner-City Development Secretariat and Zongo Development Fund
(ZDF), Ben Abdallah, has urged communities under his watch to take advantage of programmes
instituted for them.
He said these support programmes set up by the government included skills training,
entrepreneurship and business development interventions for youth and women in Zongo communities.
During separate meetings with diverse Muslim groups during his familiarisation tour of the Central
Region, he said the programmes were for them and would helpspeed up their socio-economic
development.
The two-day trip, which was part of his nationwide tour since assumption of office, afforded him the opportunity to acquaint himself with the Zongo communities, their developmental needs
and opportunities therein.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo last year appointed the former Member of Parliament
for Offinso South as the Coordinator for the ZDF, following the scrapping of the Ministry of Zongo and Inner Cities Development, alongside many other ministries in a strategic and restructuring move to realign the affected ministries with statutory development agencies.
He now plays the oversight responsibility of coordinating between the Presidency and the ZDF Secretariat.
During the tour, Mr Abdallah interacted with the Central Regional Minister, Justina Marigold Assan, at the Central Regional Coordinating Council and the Cape Coast Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Ernest Arthur.
He was later joined by the Regional Minister to meet with all the 23 District Coordinators of
the Arabic Instructors Programme in the region, as well as the Ghana Muslims Students Association
(GMSA) of the University of Cape Coast.
The coordinator held separate meetings with the Regional Council of Imams, Ahlusunnah Imams,
the Regional Council of Zongo Chiefs, and finally met with some selected Zongo youth and women
groups in the region.
He showcased the achievements of the Zongo and Inner-City Development Secretariat and the Zongo Development Fund in the Central Region and stated the government’s commitment to do
more.
“Our new policy direction and the vision of the President is to support students from Zongo
and Inner-City communities who would gain admission to read Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics (STEM) and Law programmes at the University,” he said. Mr Abdallah highlighted the
development of the 16 Model Islamic Senior High School the NPP government promised in its
2020 manifesto and the progress so far on the Phase II of the Arabic Instructors programme.
He advised them on the need to be united in the maintenance and promotion of peace for the
development of our Zongo and Inner-City communities, as well as abstain from hooliganism and
gangsterism.
BY TIMES REPORTER