The presidential coordinator for Zango and Inner Cities Development Secretariat has said that campaigns on crime prevention undertaken by his outfit have helped reduce crime rate in Zango communities.

Speaking on JoyNews' The Probe, Ben Abdallah Banda said that his outfit saw the need to sensitise and conscientise residents on the need for peace and crime prevention through the Zango for Peace and Development programme.

He stated that although he does not subscribe to the notion that Zango communities are inundated with crime, he admits that criminal activities have been recorded in the areas with some making headlines.

"Be that as it may, poverty, illiteracy and poverty has given rise to rise in crime. What we have been doing (with Zango for Peace and Development) is to sensitise," Mr Banda said on Sunday.

He told the host Emefa Apawu that "what we do is to engage stakeholders, the imams, chiefs, mallams and they have been very instrumental in making sure that message and education from us go straight to the youth on the issue of crime prevention which to a large extent has bore some fruit."

Among others, Mr Banda said that residents in the communities are educated on the significance of maintaining peace and security within the country and the relevance of ensuring that they do not disturb the peace.

"We also try to let them know that it is very important to live together to promote religious tolerance, that it is the collective of Christians and Muslims that make Ghana what it is at the moment and we believe that this sentistisation has gone a long way in minimising to some extent, the rate of crime."

Mr Banda said that the Zango for Peace and Development campaign was initially rolled out in communities in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions. 

He noted that the Zango Development Secretariat in collaboration with Zango Development Fund is hoping to extend the programme to other regions.