OUTREACH TO THE MUSLIMS OF GHANA'S NORTHERN REGION

UNCLAS ACCRA 000661

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM GH
SUBJECT: OUTREACH TO THE MUSLIMS OF GHANA'S NORTHERN REGION



1. (SBU) Summary: Emboffs were generally well received on
an intense Muslim outreach trip to Tamale, capital of
Northern Region, on March 23-25. Interlocutors raised
questions about U.S. foreign policy, USG activities in
Ghana, and about how they could benefit from scholarships,
USG assistance, and U.S. exchanges. They explained why most
Ghanaian Muslims are dissatisfied with the ruling NPP party.
Emboffs were told they were not welcome and should leave
when they went to address the Tamale Polytechnic, a reminder
that there are some radical elements in the Ghanaian Muslim
community which will require further Embassy outreach
efforts. End summary.

Meeting with Muslim Groups
--------------


2. (U) On March 23-25, PolChief, PAO and Econoff traveled
to Tamale, capital of Ghana's Northern Region, as part of
the Embassy's outreach effort to Ghana's 15-20 percent
Muslim population.


3. (U) Emboffs met with about 150 members of the Ghana
Muslim Students' Association, University of Development
Studies. They called on the Chief Imam of the Central
Mosque and about 30 of his followers, and hosted a two hour
roundtable with around 40 Muslim NGO activists, Islamic
teachers, journalists, and Imams, including the Deputy Chief
Imam of the conservative Alhussunna community in Northern
Region. Emboffs also met independently with several Muslim
NGO activists and women leaders.


4. (U) In all these meetings, Emboffs described the Muslim
community in America and US Embassy activities in Northern
Region, as well as fielding a range of questions on USG
policy toward Iraq and the Middle East, US attitudes toward
Muslims and terrorism, nuclear nonproliferation policy, the
role of girls' education, and visa issues. For the most
part, interlocutors were receptive to our arguments and
claimed they now understood that America was not anti-Muslim
and was not denying visas to Muslims, as they earlier
believed. They wanted more access to USG assistance,
highlighting the significant poverty and illiteracy in the
Northern Region, and hoped to establish exchanges with U.S.
mosques and Muslim organizations.


5. (U) The one exception to an otherwise warm reception
was the hostility Emboffs encountered when we went to speak
to the Ghana Muslims Student Association at Tamale
Polytechnic. After beginning our meeting in a campus
mosque, we were asked to leave the mosque. There was
considerable internal debate, with some students arguing
that we should never have been allowed to enter the mosque
and others embarrassed at not receiving us hospitably.
Ultimately, the radicals in the group prevailed and we were
told the students did not want to meet with us.

Muslims and Politics
--------------


6. (SBU) On the margins of our meetings, PolChief asked
about Muslim views of Ghanaian politics. Our contacts
concurred that Muslim-Christian relations are generally good
across Ghana. There are more divisions within the two
religions than between them. The North-South divide is more
pronounced and worrisome for the long term than Muslim-
Christian relations.


7. (SBU) Muslims are overwhelmingly supporters of the
opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) party. This
is in part because former Prime Minister Busia, whose party
was the forerunner to the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP),
adopted the Aliens Compliance Order expelling large numbers
of other West Africans, many of them Muslims, living in
Ghana between 1969 and 1971. Some Ghanaian Muslims were
expelled because they were mistaken as foreigners. Muslims
in Ghana have never forgiven the NPP for this period. In
addition, former President J.J. Rawlings paid attention to
Muslims, often visiting poor Muslim ghettos ("zongos"). By
contrast, according to our Muslim contacts, President Kufuor
of the NPP is not perceived as paying much attention to
Muslims. Perceived involvement of the NPP in the 2001
murder of the Ya-Na (Chief of the Abudu "gate" of the
Dagomba tribe and a Muslim) has reinforced a perception of
NPP insensitivity. Muslims are reportedly unimpressed by
the NPP's choice of a Muslim Vice President, which many of
them view as tokenism. Muslim contacts point out that there
were no Muslims in Kufuor's first Cabinet and only one in
the current lineup of ministers.

Comment
--------------


8. (SBU) Muslims are among the poorest Ghanaians,
especially in the three northern regions. It was not
surprising that most of our questions centered on how we
might assist their communities, with aid, scholarships,
visas, and exchanges. Most are moderate and appeared eager
to engage us in dialogue. However, there is a more radical
element, which we ran into at the Tamale Polytechnic. As
one interlocutor later pointed out, approaching these
elements requires more one-to-one interaction and
preparatory work than we had done. Their radicalism
reflects, at least in part, an aggressive Iranian, Libyan
and Saudi influence in the northern regions. There is
clearly more work to be done to reach out to this community.

YATES


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