<<Print>>

The Minister of Inner City and Zongo Development has cautioned Zongo communities to desist from using the funds that would be disbursed to them by government for social and traditional engagements.

Alhaji Boniface Abubakar Siddique said the Zongo Community Development Fund would be used to support education and other pressing needs of the Zongo communities but not to fund social engagements like naming ceremonies.

“The fund is not to sponsor weddings and help somebody name a child. There won’t be packages for funerals. If I am coming to somebody’s funeral, I am coming as a member of parliament, as a friend or as a family member," he cautioned.

He was speaking during a stakeholders’ forum on Wednesday at Sunyani Zongo as part of a nationwide stakeholder consultation to explain the essence of the fund.

Seeking for the support of the Muslims for the success of the fund, Alhaji Boniface said the development fund would be used judiciously in support of education, sanitation, infrastructure, cultural development and employment for inhabitants of Zongo communities across the country.

He also hinted that in the education sector, the fund will empower Arabic instructors and other inhabitants of Zongo to broaden their horizon.

The MP added that award schemes would also be set up for best Zongo teachers who teach in Islamic schools.