The Ghanaian Minaret

Accra: The government in the near future will be disbursing hajj proceeds to the less privileged or financing development projects in Muslim communities, President John Mahama has said.

He noted that it was important for Muslims to understand that Hajj was not a profit-making venture and so ordered the Hajj task force not to organise the 2025 Hajj with a profit motive.

“We don’t want a profit from Hajj. After the performance of Hajj, if there is even one cedi left, that money should be donated to the poor or used for a project in the Muslim communities,” he said.

The president was speaking at a sod-cutting ceremony for the construction of the state-of-the-art Hajj village for pilgrims in Accra.

The Ghana Hajj Taskforce, an interim body put together by the president to coordinate the 2025 Hajj for Ghanaian Muslims, announced a Hajj fare of GH₵62,000, a reduction from the previous year’s fare of GH₵75,000.

The president indicated that there was a possibility of reviewing the hajj fare further downwards after the government had offset accumulated debts from previous hajj operations.

The taskforce had discovered an accumulated debt of $5 million from the previous hajj board.

This consisted of a $446,933 debt to catering service providers, $4,429,260 for carrier flights, and about $533,333 for education and teaching services.

Alhaji Collin Dauda, the chairman of the Hajj Taskforce, said the interim body would not entertain any act of greed that could jeopardise the smooth Hajj operation.

He therefore urged hajj agents to ensure prompt payment of hajj fares on behalf of pilgrims to prevent any inconvenience.

The taskforce has set a March 13 deadline for payment of fares and has a quota of 5000 pilgrims this year.