The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has stated that it will block (deactivate) the option ‘Ahmadi’ from the list of religious organizations on the census questionnaire. This according to the GSS is in response to a statement by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in Ghana. It therefore says there will be no categorization of lslam, and that all Muslims will have only one option as “lslam”.
This decision was taken after the GSS held a meeting with the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission on Thursday 10th July 2021. The GSS accordingly instruct all its enumerators not to ask any further question, once a person identities himself/herself as a Muslim. All Muslims will, thus, be captured as Muslims, without being categorized.
Meanwhile the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission has expressed their profound gratitude to the GSS for the understanding and cooperation they have exhibited towards correcting the aforementioned anomaly Census questionnaire forms, which seem to categorize Ahmadi Muslims as being separate from Islam.
A statement issued by Alhaji Abass Wilson, the General Secretary of the Mission, said the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is ready and available to partner with the GSS and all government agencies to ensure that the upcoming Population and Housing Census (PHC) is conducted successfully
“To this end, we call on the good people of Ghana, particularly Muslims, to disregard any information or material in the public domain that contains wrongful categorization of Muslims, as such material will not be relied on as a guide for the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC), the statement added.
Below is the full statement from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in Ghana:
PRESS RELEASE FROM THE AHMADIYYA MUSLIM MISSION-GHANA
CORRECTION OF WRONGFUL CATEGORISATION OF MUSLIMS – 2021 POPULATION AND HOUSING CENSUS
On Thursday, l0th June 2021, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, Ghana, held a
meeting with the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) to resolve the wrongful
categorization of Muslims by the GSS on its 2021 Population and Housing Census
questionnaire. This anomaly is in the public domain, and has since been trending
on social media, creating misconception and confusion in the minds of
Ghanaians, particularly, Muslims.
To correct the anomaly, and bring the matter to closure, we agreed as follows:
1 . The GSS will block (deactivate) the option ‘Ahmadi’ from the list of religious
organizations on the census questionnaire, such that there will be no
categorization of Islam, and that all Muslims will have only one option as
“Islam”.
2. The GSS will accordingly instruct all its enumerators not to ask any further
question, once a person identities himself/herself as a Muslim. All Muslims will,
thus, be captured as Muslims, without being categorized.
3. To this end, we call on the good people of Ghana, particularly Muslims, to
disregard any information or material in the public domain that contains
wrongful categorization of Muslims, as such material will not be relied on as a
guide for the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC).
4. We wish to express our profound gratitude to the GSS for the understanding
and cooperation they have exhibited in our collective effort to correct the
aforementioned anomaly. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is ready and
available to partner with the GSS, and indeed all government agencies to
ensure that the upcoming PHC is conducted successfully
ABASS BIN WILSON
(GENERAL SECRETARY)
0502130555/0244968326
CC:
GSS; ALL MEDIA HOUSES
Story By: Alhassan Yakubu
