The Head of the Ghana Hajj Board, Ben Abdallah Banda has visited remaining Ghanaian Hajj pilgrims who are to return home at their various apartments in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
So far, about 50% of Ghanaian pilgrims from the northern part of the country have returned home and the rest are scheduled to arrive in Accra on Monday July 16, 2023.
On Sunday evening, the Chairman of the Hajj Board together with some Board members visited the various Ghanaian camps in Mecca to interact with the pilgrims.
During his interactions, he briefed the pilgrims on arrangements made for their airlifting back home and also delved into Hajj operations this year.
He said, as a human institution, the Hajj Board could not have got everything right to the satisfaction of the pilgrims but assured them of the necessary changes to address their challenges and improve Hajj service.
"Ghana Hajj Board is a human institution, and surely, we could not have had everything right," he said.
"I want to take this opportunity to apologise to you all, on behalf of the board, for any inconvenience our actions or inactions may have caused you throughout this process."
He further promised the best Hajj experience for Ghanaians saying "whatever it is, the status quo is not going to remain. In shaa Allah, things will change and we will have a marked improvement in our operations".
The first flight carrying pilgrims to Accra is scheduled to take off on Monday followed by four other daily flights.
About two thousand northern sector Ghanaian pilgrims have already returned home through Tamale.
This year’s Hajj marked the first time Saudi authorities allowed full Hajj without restrictions following the outbreak of covid-19.
The Board Chairman was accompanied by many members including Abdul Aziz Haruna Futa, Chief Saddique Jimala, Alhaji Yunusah Osman, Sheikh Amin Bonsu, Dr. Zakaria Seidu and Ahmed Abdulai Abu.
Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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Please the yearly increase of the hajj fare by 100% is unacceptable. The hajj fare in 2019 was GHC 19,500.00 In 2020 and 2021 there was no hajj for Ghanaian pilgrims due to the Covid 19 pandemic. In 2022 the fare shot up to GHC 39,000.00 Most prospective pilgrims were expecting the hajj board to maintain the the 2022 fare only for the board to again increase the fare to GHC 75,000.00 resulting in Ghana's inability to exhaust it's quots of 6,000. We are told about 4,190 people were able to perform hajj this year. There were complaints from a cross section of the Moslem community about the hike in the fare. There were demands made to the hajj board to come out with an itemized fare i.e. Flight fare ( in and out), accommodation, transport, meals ( if any) and medicals. This, the hajj board failed to do. In Mecca Ghanaian hajj pilgrims are paired in hotel rooms, at times 5 to a room. In Mina / Arafah they stay in tents, . In Muzdhalifah they spent the night in the open. Once the 5 day hajj rites are over, it's the pilgrims that take of their own transport . Even before the hajj proper starts pilgrims only enjoy free transport from Madina to Mecca, they pay for transportation when in mecca if they are to go anywhere until the hajj rites kickoff. It is the expectation of Ghanaian Moslems that the 2024 hajj fare will be transparent. The fact that only those who can afford are required to go for hajj doesn't mean any figure can be slapped on pilgrims. Nigeria of all places reduced their hajj fare this year 2023 compared to the 2022 figure but they have rich Moslems than Ghana.We were told by the member of parliament for Tamale north Ahassan Suhiyini that his checks revealed that Ghana's hajj fare for 2023 was the highest in the west African sub region. Again Alhaji Saeed Sinare, one time Ghana's ambassador to Saudi Arabia said the 6, 500.00 dollars or GHC 75,000.00 was on the high side. These 2 individuals cannot be playing politics with the hajj. Why should Ghanaians cross over to Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Togo to for hajj because the fares over there are more reasonable than that of Ghana. Hajj operations should not be a business for profit in Ghana.