Pres Taps Songhai C'nity ... Urges Them to Ensure Malian, Sahelian Crisis Is Not Imported Into Ghana

By Yaw Kyei

PPresident Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged the leadership of the Songhai Community in Ghana to ensure that the crisis in Mali and the Sahelian region are not exported into the country.

He urged them to rather use the strong links they had established during their long period of stay in Ghana to help the country ward off any emerging threat from the crises.

President Akufo-Addo said this when a delegation from the Songhai Community, led by its Paramount Chief, Amadu Fatahu Amadu Alhassan Maiga II, called on him at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday

Members of the community trace their ancestry from Mali, and have been living in Ghana for centuries. The visit to the Jubilee House was to introduce the Paramount Chief to the President and throw their support behind the government for introducing policies that have benefitted their members.

President Akufo-Addo said the Songhai Community had been well established in the country's architecture for centuries and indicated that the community had linked Ghana to Mali and the Songhai region through their businesses.

"We thank you and appreciate the values that you have brought to our lives... I know that in every little part of Ghana you are there because we see the evidence that you are there in the very sensitive parts of the national economic life.

"You are all part and parcel of the community now and we should continue to live as one community in brotherhood and solidarity.

"The way you conduct yourselves, and bond and live with us here in Ghana was the best way to ensure that the emerging developments in Mali don't take place in our country," he said and commended them for contributing to Ghana's development.

President Akufo-Addo lauded the community's commitment to promote the values of civic responsibility, education, entrepreneurship, good citizenship, among other, saying, "These are values that are very important for the growth of Ghana, especially to make sure that the stability and the peace, and the integrity of our country that we have today continues.

"We live in a difficult neighborhood and we are providing a good example of how people can live together in solidarity and develop a decent civilisation," he said.

President Akufo-Addo who was happy to learn that the initiatives of his government in the areas of education, industry and agriculture had found favour with the Songhai community, said it was great news "that you are supporting them and incorporate them into their lives."

"These are the impacts that they are intended to have to reach all sectors of our society... that that impact is being felt, I am very encouraged to hear this messages that have come from you," he said.

The Deputy General Secretary of the community, Swadiq Muhammad Huzaif who spoke for the delegation, pledged that the Songhai people in Ghana would continue to respect the country's laws and promote peace and security.

"My people are peace loving people, law abiding citizens, business men and women who are doing well in their various aspect of life especially in the Oil and Gas sector, and contributing their quota to the development of this country. We pledge to continue to respect the laws of Ghana in promoting peace and security, and the general well-being of all residents in Ghana. Our mission as a community is to promote education, entrepreneurship, civic culture among our people," he said.

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