Tema, May 02, GNA – Alhaji Owusu Bio Salisu, the National Executive Secretary of the Office of National Chief Imam of Ghana, has hosted political officers of the United States Embassy in Ghana for IFTAR at the National Mosque at Kanda, Accra.
The meeting was to afford the diplomats an opportunity to understand Ramadan and provide a platform to interact with the National Chief Imam’s secretaries and build the appropriate contact with the four leading Muslim sects and organisations in Ghana.
Present at the IFTAR were Alhaji Khuzaima Mohammed Osman, the Executive Secretary of the Tijjaniya Muslims Movement of Ghana (TMMG), Sheikh Swalah Bamba, the National Organizer of the Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jamat (ASWAJ); and Alhajj Muallim Bashiru Kwaw, representative of the Ahmadiyya Muslims Mission.
Mr Christopher Perry, Chief Political Officer of the US Embassy, commended the National Chief Imam’s offices and the various Muslim groups for the engagement and expressed delight and appreciation for the IFTAR and the opportunity to meet the major Islamic sects in Ghana together with the Office of the National Chief Imam.
Beyond the meeting with the diplomats, Alhaji Salisu pledged to hold periodic meetings with other Islamic sects.
He said the aim was to build unity and understand each other’s operations and initiate platforms of communications and sharing of knowledge, and experience, and enhance working relationships between the Office of the National Chief Imam of Ghana and the four leading Islamic sects in Ghana.
The representatives discussed a variety of subjects and issues affecting the Muslim community, good governance, and how religious leaders could work together to hold political leaders accountable to their people.
They all agreed to expand the representations and include some high-profile Muslim figures and organizations that are doing well in the Muslim communities such as the Islamic Council for Development and Humanitarian Services (ICODEHS) and the National Muslim Conference (NMC) in their next round of meeting.
Ghana, like most nations around the world, has Islamic bodies and schools and a few other NGOs that formed the Office of the National Chief Imam or Office of the Grand Mufti although they all maintained their independence.
The National Chief Imam also doubles as the spiritual leader of the Tijjaniya Muslims Movement of Ghana (TMMG), a vibrant powerful force and organization among the Tijjaniya authorities in Ghana.
GNA