Dr Mahmudu Bawumia
During a programme on Radio Univers in Accra last Saturday, the Administrator of the Ghana Hajj Board Haj Manaf paid tributes to Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia and the Chief of Staff, Madam Akosua Frema Osei-Opare but for whose roles the just ended religious exercise would not have taken place.
It was a programme organised by the radio station to offer him an opportunity to reflect upon the just ended Hajj, which he said was unprecedented in the history of the religious exercise.
Preparations take a year for the Hajj but the just ended one took about a month, he said. “We were unable to tell whether it was going to come on or not considering the closeness of the date for the religious exercise in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he stressed.
After a two year suspension, he recalled how announcement for the Hajj was made abruptly, putting a strain on the Ghana Hajj Board.
Even while expressing apologies to those who were unable to make it after paying for the package, he said the Ghana Hajj Board deserves a pat on the back for the feat achieved.
To those who found the cost of the just ended Hajj outrageous, he referred them to the relative higher costs in other countries such as Nigeria, Senegal, Niger and others, saying “the realistic cost should have been in excess of the GH¢39,000 in Ghana.”
The Board, he said, is not responsible for the cost of services rendered to pilgrims in Saudi Arabia. These, he said, are determined by the service providers. “Pilgrims are supposed to pay for the air fare, transportation costs for movement from one location to another, including food and others. These witnessed astronomical increase during the last Hajj, hence the high cost of the package this year,” he explained.
Some of the challenges encountered during the last Hajj, he said, were as a result of novelties such as the mandatory possession of COVID-19 vaccination cards. He added that in spite of the agreement with persons who paid two years ago that they would not have to pay extra money when the next Hajj is due, developments have necessitated the variation of the deal.
Overall, he said it was a successful Hajj; the challenges notwithstanding.
By A.R. Gomda