‘Ghana beyond aid’ needs your sacrifice – Akufo-Addo urges Muslims

President Nana Akufo-Addo has called on Muslims to sacrifice for their country, a value he said was key to achieving the government’s goal of a Ghana beyond aid.

“Our nation requires this of us- that we sacrifice our abilities and talent in building a Ghana beyond aid,” he said in his message as Muslims mark Eid-ul-Adha Friday.

The president in March 2018 announced his Ghana beyond aid vision of a “prosperous and self-confident Ghana that is in charge of her economic destiny; a transformed Ghana that is prosperous enough to be beyond needing aid, and that engages competitively with the rest of the world through trade and investment.”

While calling for more sacrifice in his Eid-al-Adha message, the president said on his part, he has been working to build a society in which opportunities abound for all irrespective of creed, gender or ethnicity.

Eid al-Adha is the second of two Islamic holidays celebrated worldwide each year, and considered the holier of the two. It honours the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismael as an act of obedience to God’s command.

President Akufo-Addo called the holiday a “celebration of the true essence of Islam – peace and submission to the will of Allah.”

The outbreak of coronavirus pandemic however means the celebration is muted.

The Haji pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, has been limited in accordance to social distancing rules which controls the spread of the virus which has killed more than 677,000 worldwide and has infected more than 17million.

Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia however urged Muslims in Ghana not to be deterred by the coronavirus pandemic but fast and offer supplications in according to the teachings of Allah.

“Remember our country Ghana today,” he told Muslims and also stressed the president’s call for sacrifice.

He picked out loyalty, obedience and selflessness as three important traits which needs to be deeply inculcated into Ghanaian society. He was joined by his wife, Samira Bawumia, in expressing good wishes on the occasion of the holy celebration of sacrifice.

“Together with my dear husband, we wish you all Bakar De Sallah.” she said.

The governing New Patriotic Party also issued a statement acknowledging the impact of coronavirus on the celebration of Eid-ul-Adha.

“We are not in normal times”, the NPP General Secretary John Boadu wrote and also hammered on the theme of sacrifice.

“…this day not just being a day for celebrations, but more importantly, a day for them to reflect on their sacrifices, first of all, to their Maker, and then to fellow humans and to society at large.”