The Ghanaian Minaret

Accra: The cost of constructing a new hajj village is US$14.6 million, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, Minister of State in charge of government communication, has said.

The government’s spokesperson noted that the project was a commercial project executed by the Ghana Airport Company Limited at no cost to the taxpayer.

“Ghana airport is not taking money from their coffers; neither is the government of Ghana taking money from the consolidated funds or any other source to give to them to build.

“In this instance the Ghana airports gave lands that they have to the contractor in exchange for him spending 14.6 million dollars on the terminal,” he added.

He was speaking in an interview on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News on Monday, March 3, 2025.

He urged Ghanaians to reject any misinformation or propaganda that seems to equate the Hajj village project to the national cathedral scandal.

Ghana’s president, John Dramani Mahama, last Friday cut the sod for the construction of a state-of-the-art Hajj village to provide a dignifying experience and conducive environment for Hajj pilgrims in Accra.

The facility, when completed within a scheduled period of 24 months, will include a mosque, clinic, conference spaces, residential accommodation, terminal building, offices, a market, and a catering centre.

The construction project is executed by Messrs. MAWUMS Construction.

Meanwhile, the former Chairman of the Ghana Hajj Board, Ben Abdallah Banda, has urged the government to acknowledge the construction of a new Hajj Village as a legacy project of the previous government.

In a Facebook post last Friday, he claimed that the process for the construction of the project was initiated by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo-Bawumia government as far back as 2017 through the then Minister for Aviation, the late Kofi Adda, and later the Ministry of Transport.