Accra: Mohammed Amin Lamptey, the Communications Director of the Pilgrims Affairs Office of Ghana, has asked those affected by the abrupt closure of the hajj fare payment to bear with the office.

Speaking on GHOne TV, he said the office couldn’t bear repeating mistakes from previous years where the local hajj authorities allowed payments to exceed the quota allotted to the country.

“It is about managing the process. If you want to say that the thing is oversubscribed and we aren’t going to close, so people should continue paying, when there are problems, who do you blame?” he queried.

The Pilgrims Affairs Office has come under criticism for abruptly closing the avenue for Hajj fare payment without giving a stipulated deadline for payment.

The Office initially announced the new hajj fare of GHS60,000 in October last year without giving a deadline for payment.

On January 6, 2026, it announced the closure of Hajj fare payment, an arrangement that has caused a lot of inconvenience to some Ghanaian Muslims intending to perform Hajj this year who are yet to make payments.

Alhaji Lamptey, however, explained that the decision to close payment was due to the information received from the GCB Bank, the official bankers of the Pilgrims Affairs Office, which indicated that Ghana’s Hajj quota has been met.

He also attributed the inconvenience caused to the undue delay and procrastination by individuals meant to make payments on behalf of intending pilgrims.