A project that is being initiated by the Ministry of Zongo and Inner-Cities Development to enhance the livelihoods of people in the Zongo communities has attracted significant endorsements from a cross section of Ghanaians.
In response to a question in Parliament recently regarding what the ministry has in store for the improvement of the lives of Zongo residents, the sector Minister – Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid – said a number of socio-economic interventions have been lined up to positively alter the lives of residents of the Zongos.
“This includes, among others, the provision of critical infrastructure and especially the provision of relevant education and training for Zongo women to enhance their traditional cuisines such as ‘Waakye’ and others through branding and business promotion”, the minister told Parliament.
Continuing, he said: ‘In collaboration with the Ministry of Business Development and Access Bank, we are in the final stages of a collaboration that will allow Access Bank to provide capital to businesses in Zongo communities. This programme should be rolled out in the first quarter of 2019”.
Unfortunately, however, a few persons who do not even belong to the Zongo communities attacked the concept. In their view, the concept is bereft of ideas.
Countering the attacks, Alhaji Mahamudu Jaja, a former aide to Alhaji Said Sinare, said the idea must be supported by all because it aims at enhancing “the living standards of our mothers who have been engaged in these businesses over the years with no significant positive changes in their lives.” When matters of development emerge, he said, it is important to avoid politicizing them so that the Zongos can progress after years of stagnation. He said although he belongs to the NDC, when matters about development crop up ‘mine is Zongo Development Party’.
He added that the Zongo Ministry had come to stay because it is backed by law; hence pranks which seek to derail its programmes should be avoided.
“‘Koko’ which is a Zongo product has now been branded by a company called “Koko King”, and it’s being sold in an enhanced package. With the programme envisaged by the minister, the youth in the Zongos could be attracted to the production of cuisines which belong to the Zongos through effective branding and marketing, thereby changing positively their living standards”, he said.
With the necessary training, those who prepare ‘waakye’, ‘koko’ and ‘sobolo’, among others, would appreciate the importance of hygiene and branding, he pointed out.
In a related development, a group calling itself ‘The Concerned Kumasi Zongo Youth’ has issued a statement condemning the opposition of NDC to policies that seek to improve the welfare of residents of Zongos in the country.
“We welcome these policies and programmes because they address the direct needs of our people. It is an undisputed fact that majority of the best local dishes are prepared in Zongo communities. We believe that if this policy is well executed, it will improve the businesses of many people especially our mothers and sisters in our Zongo communities”, they said in the statement signed by the convener – Ahmed Tijani.
“We heard and read with shock commentaries by key NDC communicators making a mockery of these laudable life improvement policies. Mr. Kwaku Boahen, one of the communicators, said on radio that these policies are useless and a waste of public resources,” they disclosed.
Reacting to the spin that the NDC has put on the idea, Dr. Abdul-Hamid said that “it seems to me that the NDC takes the people of Zongo and inner cities for granted. The reason behind their aversion to a programme that seeks to improve the businesses of Zongo people beats me”, he declared.
Stating the determination of his ministry to move ahead with the programme, the minister told DAILY GUIDE that “we have a mission to transform the lives of Zongo people and that of those in inner cities. And we are going to do so against the wish of the naysayers. Indeed, they gave us their mandate in 2016 because they wanted us to do something to enhance their living standards. We shall do exactly that,” he added.
The minister gave an assurance that the programme would not be discriminatory, but added that the NDC is free to admonish its women in Zongo communities not to take advantage of this life-transforming programme.
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