Ben Abdallah Banda
In their latest efforts yet to make this year’s Hajj operations a successful one, the Executive Secretary of the Ghana Hajj Board Secretariat has released timetables for a countrywide orientation for prospective pilgrims.
Alhaji Farouk Hamza, in releasing the timetables said “it is our intention to ensure a successful Hajj in view of which we are organising a countrywide orientation exercise for prospective pilgrims.”
The exercise, he said, was done with the special needs of pilgrims in mind.
“Being first timers on international trips such as to Saudi Arabia by some pilgrims, there is the need to give them such an orientation,” he said.
Such prospective pilgrims may contact their Hajj Agents for directions regarding the exercise, he said.
In Accra, he said the exercise will be held at the Hajj Village near the Kotoka International Airport, while in Kumasi it will be at the Central Mosque and in Tamale, the Police Park. In Wa, Walewale and Bolga, talks are on with Hajj Agents for appropriate locations for the exercise.
The orientation for Yendi is scheduled for May 25 to be coordinated by Dagomba Boy while in Tamale it will be held at the Police Park on May 26, 2023 with DB Zabora and Choggu coordinating.
Continuing on May 27 in Tamale will be Ansara, Al Muharam, Sahudoo and Fudan.
The rest are Al Manask, Nawuni Beini, Insha Allah, Azzekereen, Al Meekat, Arahman, Abusuaba, Nizam, Duapaye and First Class.
In Walewale, the coordinating agent is Markaz for May 29, 2023 and Bolga May 30, 2023.
Similar exercises are scheduled for Kumasi and Accra.
“The exercise has been fashioned out in consultation with the Medical and Da’awah Departments. By the time the exercise ends, prospective pilgrims will be sufficiently primed for the international flight they are going to embark upon and the religious rites that await them upon their touchdown in Saudi Arabia.”
In the buildup to the commencement of flights, which is scheduled for Tamale on June 9, 2023, the first in a series of engagement with stakeholders such as the Ghana Airports Company Limited, Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana Health Service, Ghana Air Force and others was held last week and a second one planned for today.
In a related development, the Hajj Board team led by the Chairman of the Ghana Hajj Board, Ahmed Ben Abdallah, has returned from an inspection trip to Saudi Arabia.
Upon arrival, the Chairman expressed satisfaction with the accommodation which, as he put it, was what the pilgrims in the previous Hajj were offered.
The Hajj Village Clinic, now operational for the Hajj season, is undertaking health screening for registered prospective pilgrims and vaccination for Yellow Fever and COVID-19.
By A.R. Gomda