IT has been a yearly ritual for a number of Muslims to be stranded at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra as a result of the inability of the National Hajj Council (NHC) to provide aircraft to airlift them to Mecca for the Hajj. Last year, the situation was so bad that about 490 would-be pilgrims were unable to make the journey to Mecca.
The ‘Hajj Fiasco’, as it came to be known, caused so much agony among the Muslim community and even in government circles that some interested groups constituted a committee to investigate the circumstances that led to the failure of the council to carry out its mandate.
The Committee of Enquiry made adverse findings against the NHC and the Hajj Agents Association of Ghana in the organisation of the 2006/7 Hajj. It said inefficiency and incompetence on the part of some members of the NHC and the Hajj agents contributed to the 2006/7 Hajj crisis.
But before the dust could settle following the committee’s recommendations, disagreements emerged, compelling the National Chief Imam to establish a 21-member Interim Management Committee (IMC) to manage this year’s Hajj. Although all the interest groups did not agree with their spiritual leader’s intervention, it was imperative for them to comply in the interest of peace and harmony on their front in order to organise an incident-free pilgrimage.
The IMC has already pledged to organise a problem-free Hajj. This tune is not different from the assurances given by other Hajj committees in the past. Last year, before the situation exploded in the face of the NHC, it had given the same assurance. In December last year, a member of the NHC, Dr Rabiatu Ammah, told the DAILY GRAPHIC that the council had finalised arrangements to ensure a problem-free Hajj.
It is against this background that the DAILY GRAPHIC welcomes the appeal from President J. A. Kufuor to those entrusted with the organisation of the Hajj this year to discharge their duties honourably and efficiently to ensure a problem-free pilgrimage. We add our voice to the President’s admonition because of the pride of place that all devout Muslims accord the pilgrimage to Mecca. As one of the important pillars of Islam, it is a fact that Muslims put together the family income in order to perform the pilgrimage at least once in their life time.
The DAILY GRAPHIC does not want to state that for some time now Muslims who have struggled to raise the airfare to undertake the pilgrimage have come up against obstacles and stressful experiences. Nonetheless, it is important to once again echo the sentiments of the President that “thwarting the life-long ambition of a fellow Muslim in fulfilling this sacred obligation is tantamount to acting against the holy teachings of Islam”.
The DAILY GRAPHIC reminds the members of the IMC of the herculean task ahead of them. It is our hope that the persons selected for this task have the track record to deliver to expectation so that the last minute cancellation of flights would not add to the agonising experiences of the would-be pilgrims who travel from far and near to sleep in the open at the airport in Accra.
We hope that the Ramadan will provide a spiritual renewal for all Muslims, particularly members of the NHC to break the jinx surrounding the successful organisation of pilgrimages all these years. This time round, Ghanaians do not want to hear about a ‘Hajj fiasco’ but a stress-free pilgrimage.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, however, appeals to the police to, in future, liaise with Muslim leaders so that street carnivals can be organised in a more orderly manner. Residents in all the regional capitals must be informed in advance about the carnival and the roads blocked for only a specific period, instead of the present situation where the roads are blocked for as long as the revellers are prepared to remain on the streets. Let us put order into our way of life to ensure that our rights are exercised with responsibilities.
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