Dr. Arafat Sulemana Abdulai Urges Zongos To Participate In The Population And Housing Census

The Chief Executive Officer of the Zongo Development Fund, Dr. Arafat Sulemana Abdulai has urged inhabitants of Zongo Communities to endeavor to “participate fully” in the upcoming 2021 population and housing census.

He said the census exercise is a national programme and every member of the Zongo community must not be left unaccounted for.

Dr. Arafat made the call, today, at a stakeholders’ engagement forum on the 2021 Population and Housing Census, organized by the LIGHT FOUNDATION, an advocacy and social support organization, at the Police mosque, Cantonments, Accra.

Dr. Arafat noted that the government of President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo has established the Zongo Development Fund in order to promote development in zongo communities and to ensure a more inclusive development agenda for all Ghanaians, irrespective of religion, tribe, social status and cultural affiliation.

It is therefore incumbent, he added, upon all muslims and inhabitants of Zongos, particularly, to ensure they are fully counted in the population census. He reminded Zongos of the direct relationship between the population of a community and the allocation of national resources by the central government.

Dr. Arafat assured all stakeholders of the support and collaboration of the Zongo Development Fund in the exercise and expressed his readiness to embark on a nation-wide campaign in Zongo communities, in order to further educate inhabitants on the importance of the census programme.

He said the Fund completely appreciates the necessity of the exercise, because it will facilitate an appreciation of the accurate number of people living in Zongos. It will also assist the Fund in the allocation of projects to various communities.

He pledged to also intensify the completion of on-going projects in the provision of safe and potable drinking water for all; construction and renovation of basic school infrastructure; establishment of ICT Labs, Teaching and Learning materials; vocational skills training and entrepreneurial support for the youth; provision of financial support for Tertiary education; construction of access roads and drains; construction of community recreational parks; upgrading of maternal and child health care centres, and community lighting programmes.

So far, Dr. Arafat concluded,the Fund has “fully completed 198 projects across the country.”

Meanwhile, over 300 projects spanning various areas of activities of the Fund are at various stages of completion.