Nasara Coordinator of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Abdul Aziz Haruna Futa says former President John Mahama’s comment about establishing mortuaries in accordance with Islamic custom and practices is ’empty’
This comes after the former president in an interview with TV XYZ and WoezorTV mentioned a number of interventions aimed at addressing the historical inequalities between Zongo, Deprived Urban Settlements and other communities.
During the interview, the NDC flagbearer cited the negative effects of the Alien Compliance Order implemented by the Danquah-Busia tradition on Zongos.
He further acknowledged the concerns of Muslims about how traditional mortuaries handle their beloved ones when they pass on and said his new government will address the problem.
Aziz says mortuaries are not a priority for the Zongo communities and NDC flagbearer John Mahama did not consult the people before coming out with such a promise.
“It is empty this is not people’s manifesto, I think they did not consult the Zongos before bringing this up because if they really consulted the people they would have known that mortuaries are not a priority for us. This is prohibited and haram, if we lose our loved ones we facilitate and get the body home beccause we value our corpse”.
There was a little twist when some publications after the interview suggested that Mr Mahama promised to build more mortuaries for Zongo communities.
But in a press statement, James Agyenim-Boateng spokesperson for the NDC campaign team said the attention of the party had been drawn to a publication which he said was misleading and false.
He noted that the former president never said he was going to build more mortuaries for Zongo communities but rather, he promised to “facilitate the establishment of mortuaries in accordance with Islamic custom and practices and collaborate with the Ministry of Health to set up focal teams responsible for procedures that are compliant with Islamic custom and practice at all public mortuaries.”
He, therefore, has entreated the general public, especially Muslims to disregard any such publication.
