Ghanaian Hajj pilgrims return

As the first batch of Ghanaian pilgrims are expected to arrive on 26th October 2013 from Saudi Arabia, according to the Chairman of the Pilgrims Office, Ghana, Tanko Ibrahim Abdul Rauf, the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu has expressed satisfaction with this year’s operations in a telephone interview with DAILY GUIDE.

The Islamic cleric praised Mr Tanko Abdul Rauf and President John Mahama for what he described as a hassle-free Hajj.

// ]]>

Speaking to DAILY GUIDE last Friday, he said “I am satisfied with this year’s Hajj operations. The Chairman of the pilgrims’ office and the appointing authority that is the President deserve commendation for the manner in which the operations were undertaken.”

He prayed that subsequent Hajj operations would be devoid of the hassle which has characterized the pilgrimage in the country.

“For the first time, I have not had the stress of containing worried pilgrims at my doorstep. This is ample evidence about the success of the operations,” he said.

President Mahama also showered accolades on the Chairman for what he described as a successful Hajj operation.

Two Ghanaian pilgrims died this year, one of them a female aged 56 and the other 63 a male, who died soon after arriving from the religious rituals on Mount Arafat.

The female pilgrim died while she was praying, the Chairman said.

Deaths during the pilgrimage are not unusual occurrences and pilgrims who so die while on the religious exercise are buried in Saudi Arabia according to Islamic convention.

On the issue of disgruntled pilgrims who have leveled various allegations against the Ghanaian Hajj operations, he said “these are illegal Ghanaian immigrants in Saudi Arabia. We had to get them out of the Ghanaian camp because of the nuisance they were creating.”

This year, the Saudi authorities did not allow Ghanaian women who go to Saudi Arabia to cook for commercial purposes and their illegal immigrant compatriots who also take advantage of the occasion to prepare meals for sale to the pilgrims, the chairman said.

“Food was restricted to local cooks, something which the disgruntled Ghanaian women detested, hence the leveling of several unsubstantiated allegations against the Hajj operations.”

Some people alleged that the provision of food to pilgrims, which formed part of the package, was inadequate, an allegation the chairman disputed.

There are many Ghanaian illegal immigrants in Saudi Arabia who take advantage of the annual religious exercise during which immigration related arrests are relaxed to engage in petty trading among Ghanaian pilgrims.

After the pilgrimage, they are subjected to occasional raids by immigration authorities. So bad is the situation that sometimes when some of them die burial becomes problematic.

Source Daily Guide Ghana News

Ghanaian Hajj pilgrims return