The Member of Parliament (MP) for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu, has justified his decision to introduce a private member’s bill seeking to get two additional holidays for the Muslim community.
Sosu has sent private members bill to Parliament to amend the country’s Public Holidays Act 2001, Act 601, to get more holidays in Ghana.
The bill was submitted to the Clerk of Parliament on Wednesday, 29th November 2023, and is currently being processed.
Mr. Sosu said in an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM on Thursday that he had consultations with stakeholders before initiating the bill and that, particularly because his constituency had a substantial number of Muslims, introducing it was a way of representing them.
“Madina has a very substantial Islamic population. So as one of the ways of reaching out to the Islamic community, I began a project called the Islam Project. The Islam project was devising creative ways of representing the interests of persons of the Islamic faith…And one of the creative ways I sought to represent the people of Madina was to introduce this bill,” he stated.
He further added, “If I am in Madina and I have the chance to be a leader, and I am dealing with all these interest groups, I should be able to reassure my base that I am there for you, and things that champion your interest, I am willing to do that.”