Moslem Committee Chairman Resigns in Disgrace

The chairman of the Cape Coast Central Mosque Building Committee, Alhaji Zakari Abdulai, has resigned his post. He was exposed to public ridicule, emanating from the visit of Sheik Ibrahim C. Quaye to explain the cause of delay in getting financial assistance from Saudi Arabia.

Alhaji Abdulai, who has been the chairman of the Mosque Building Committee for 15 years, is also the chairman of the Cape Coast constituency of the NDC Moslem wing of the party. The Chronicle gathered that following his resignation, his vice, Salihu Cheibi, who is also an NDC faithful, has stopped attending meetings of the committee over the past three weeks and when confronted, he was reported to have stated that his decision to stop attending meetings was in sympathy with his chairman.

The secretary, Mr. Abubakar Issa Bobby, a.k.a Alhaji GBC, who accused Hon. Christine Churcher of pocketing $4,000 being a donation from Saudi Arabia at an NDC rally at the Kotokoraba Electoral Area last month, by his own conduct has also dismissed himself from office. Mr. Say Mallah, first vice chairman of the NPP and member of the Moslem community, is however, not satisfied with the sudden resignation of the Mosque Building Committee chairman and has called on the elders of the Zongo Community to pressurise him (Alhaji Zakari Abdulai) to render satisfactory accounts of his stewardship for the 15 year period before accepting his resignation.

He, therefore, called on the elders and chiefs of the Zongo Community not to accept the resignation of Mosque Building Committee chairman until every pesewa that passed through the committee, under his chairmanship, has been accounted for, adding "this should be made to include both local and foreign donations. He also urged Moslems to desist from mixing religious issues with politics, and respect the advice of their elders and comport themselves before and after the upcoming general elections.

Mr. Say Mallah however commended members of the committee who have remained loyal to the progress of the project, when others keep on resigning on flimsy excuses. It will be recalled that the October 2 issue of the Ghanaian Chronicle carried a story "Muslims defend Ms. Churcher over $4,000 allegations" in which three members of the executive of the Cape Coast Central Mosque Building Committee refuted allegations by the secretary, Mr. Abubakar Issa Bobby, a.k.a Alhaji GBC, at an NDC rally at the Kotokoraba Electoral Area where he called on the MP to account for the amount he claimed she had received from Saudi Arabia.

Following that publication, Sheik Ibrahim C. Quaye, MP for Ayawaso Central, who is the National Chairman of the National Islamic Centre, debunked the allegation levelled against the MP for Cape Coast, Ms. Christine Churcher, by the member of the NDC that she had pocketed an amount of $4,000 from Saudi Arabia. Sheik Ibrahim Quaye, as the supreme head of the Moslem Community, came to Cape Coast and addressed members of the Central Regional Traditional Council at the Chief Wangara's palace on Monday, October 2, where he explained that no money had come from Saudi Arabia for any purpose in Cape Coast.

He, however, explained that documents meant for submission to Saudi Arabia for financial assistance from the MP for Cape Coast, Ms Christine Churcher, were delayed and have since remained with him in Accra, Sheik Quaye brought the documents out for their inspection and the elders admitted they were the original documents sent through the MP for Cape Coast.