December 26, 2007
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Executive Director of the Eanfoworld for Sustainable Development, an NGO, Alhaji Alhasan Abdulai, has urged the police to intensify security patrols during this festive season to prevent burglary, highway robbery and car snatching in the country.
He asked the police to “mount formidable patrol teams in towns and villages, especially in areas such as banks, forex bureaux and markets that are prone to robberies”.
Alhaji Abdulai who made the call at the annual review meeting of the organisation mentioned the Accra-Kumasi, Accra, Wa, Tamale and Bolga roads as areas prone to highway robberies.
He also cited remote neighbourhoods and bungalows as some of the areas frequented by robbers.
Alhaji Abdulai called for special security training for the police and drivers to enable them to resist burglars and robbers.
Besides, he said, “the vehicles, homes and buses could also be equipped with security features to ward off burglars and robbers”
Alhaji Abdulai noted that the police had decided to beef up security during the Christmas holidays, and indicated his trust in the ability of the police.
He appealed to the police service to act promptly on complaints lodged by victims of armed robberies to further boost the image of the Ghana Police Service.
Alhaji Abdulai called for the setting up of special security teams to fish out those manufacturing guns in the country, since that was crucial to reducing crime in the country.
He commended the government for achieving infrastructural development, good governance, freedom of speech, and for tolerating opposing and minority views.
Alhaji Abdulai wished the government, the legislature, the judiciary, security forces as well the media, religious bodies, civil society organisations, farmers and medical staff long life and prosperity in the coming year.
Friday, December 28, 2007
3 Dead pilgrims identified
December 28, 2007
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE three Ghanaian pilgrims who died during this year’s Hajj in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been identified.
A source close to the Interim Hajj Management Committee gave their names as Hajia Maryama Ishak, from Kumasi, Alhaji Adams Alhassan, from Tamale, and Alhaji Abdulai Alhassan, from Bawku.
According to the source, Hajia Maryama died on the flight from Accra to Dubai, and indicated that the pilgrims were not aware of her state till they made a transit at Dubai.
Alhaji Adams died in Jeddah, while Alhaji Abdulai died in Mecca. All of them were between the ages of 70 and 80.
The deceased, who died through natural causes, were part of the 2,700 Ghanaian pilgrims that performed this year’s Hajj.
Muslims believe that whoever dies while performing Hajj dies as a martyr, and that God will grant him or her paradise.
The dead are buried with their white cloth used in the performance of the Hajj.
Therefore, some Muslims, especially the old, pray to God to take their souls while performing the Hajj.
Some three million Muslims from all over the world converge on Mecca to perform Hajj annually.
Indonesia leads the pact with more than 100,000 pilgrims, followed by India, Turkey and other Asian countries. In Africa, Nigeria is one of the countries with the highest number of pilgrims, sending more than 60,000 pilgrims every year.
Despite their huge numbers, those countries do not go through difficulties before, during and after the Hajj as they have the expertise in all the operational aspects, such as airline and transportation of the Hajj.
However, in Ghana, where only between 2,000 and 2,700 pilgrims perform Hajj, the pilgrims go through difficulties before, during and after the pilgrimage due to the lapses of those handling the Hajj operations.
This year was no exception as the Ghanaian pilgrims arrived in Saudi Arabia after the closure of the Jeddah Airport following the delay in the arrival of their flights.
Information reaching the Daily Graphic also indicates that the pilgrims are uncertain about their return journey home.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE three Ghanaian pilgrims who died during this year’s Hajj in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been identified.
A source close to the Interim Hajj Management Committee gave their names as Hajia Maryama Ishak, from Kumasi, Alhaji Adams Alhassan, from Tamale, and Alhaji Abdulai Alhassan, from Bawku.
According to the source, Hajia Maryama died on the flight from Accra to Dubai, and indicated that the pilgrims were not aware of her state till they made a transit at Dubai.
Alhaji Adams died in Jeddah, while Alhaji Abdulai died in Mecca. All of them were between the ages of 70 and 80.
The deceased, who died through natural causes, were part of the 2,700 Ghanaian pilgrims that performed this year’s Hajj.
Muslims believe that whoever dies while performing Hajj dies as a martyr, and that God will grant him or her paradise.
The dead are buried with their white cloth used in the performance of the Hajj.
Therefore, some Muslims, especially the old, pray to God to take their souls while performing the Hajj.
Some three million Muslims from all over the world converge on Mecca to perform Hajj annually.
Indonesia leads the pact with more than 100,000 pilgrims, followed by India, Turkey and other Asian countries. In Africa, Nigeria is one of the countries with the highest number of pilgrims, sending more than 60,000 pilgrims every year.
Despite their huge numbers, those countries do not go through difficulties before, during and after the Hajj as they have the expertise in all the operational aspects, such as airline and transportation of the Hajj.
However, in Ghana, where only between 2,000 and 2,700 pilgrims perform Hajj, the pilgrims go through difficulties before, during and after the pilgrimage due to the lapses of those handling the Hajj operations.
This year was no exception as the Ghanaian pilgrims arrived in Saudi Arabia after the closure of the Jeddah Airport following the delay in the arrival of their flights.
Information reaching the Daily Graphic also indicates that the pilgrims are uncertain about their return journey home.
Lawyer sues Hajj Committee
December 28, 2007
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
AN Accra legal practitioner, Mr Daniyal Abdul-Karim, has sued members and advisors of the Interim Hajj Management Committee (IHMC) on his behalf and on behalf of all the pilgrims for a breach of contract.
Abdul-Karim who withdrew from embarking on this year’s pilgrimage (Hajj) following the delay by the Hajj Committee to secure flights to airlift the pilgrims, prayed the Commercial Division of the High Court to slap punitive, aggravated and exemplary damages against the members and advisors of the Hajj Committee for negligence.
A statement of claim dated December 20, 2007, requested the court to direct members of the Hajj Committee to refund the $2,300 to all the pilgrims who could not make it to Saudi Arabia.
It asked for general damages against the members of the Hajj Committee for breach of contract.
The statement also requested a declaration pursuant to Article 15 of the 1992 Constitution that the overall treatment given to the pilgrims at the makeshift camp set up by the IHMC near the airport was degrading, dehumanising and that the pilgrims were subjected to treatment which detracted from their worth and dignity as human beings.
It also asked the court for “such further and other relief” as it might seem fit.
On the breach of contract, Mr Abdul-Karim’s solicitor, Solomon Korli, said the IHMC was unable to provide aircraft at the times agreed upon (on or about December 7, 2007) until after the expiry of the official closing date of the King Abdul-Aziz Airport in Jeddah on December 14, 2007.
The solicitor said the defendants “would not have been able to transport one pilgrim but for the intervention of the government which negotiated and secured an extension of the closing date of the Jeddah Airport and arranged for additional aircraft to augment the number secured by the defendants outside of the agreed time frame”.
He indicated that as the closure of the Jeddah Airport was imminent, some pilgrims called off the trip altogether while others made alternative arrangements and travelled to Saudi Arabia by themselves.
“Notwithstanding the non-availability of any aircraft within the time frame and in rapid succession, the defendants negligently caused the pilgrims to camp in Accra under very appalling conditions. When the aeroplanes finally arrived, the entire boarding process was chaotic as pilgrims were compelled to part with various sums of money for boarding passes and were further compelled by the absence of order to struggle to board them in order to secure seats on the aircraft” the solicitor said.
He argued that the members of the Hajj Council failed to take reasonable care in preparing for the Hajj and that if the members had acted prudently, they would not have failed to procure adequate aeroplanes to transport all the pilgrims in good time to perform the Hajj.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
AN Accra legal practitioner, Mr Daniyal Abdul-Karim, has sued members and advisors of the Interim Hajj Management Committee (IHMC) on his behalf and on behalf of all the pilgrims for a breach of contract.
Abdul-Karim who withdrew from embarking on this year’s pilgrimage (Hajj) following the delay by the Hajj Committee to secure flights to airlift the pilgrims, prayed the Commercial Division of the High Court to slap punitive, aggravated and exemplary damages against the members and advisors of the Hajj Committee for negligence.
A statement of claim dated December 20, 2007, requested the court to direct members of the Hajj Committee to refund the $2,300 to all the pilgrims who could not make it to Saudi Arabia.
It asked for general damages against the members of the Hajj Committee for breach of contract.
The statement also requested a declaration pursuant to Article 15 of the 1992 Constitution that the overall treatment given to the pilgrims at the makeshift camp set up by the IHMC near the airport was degrading, dehumanising and that the pilgrims were subjected to treatment which detracted from their worth and dignity as human beings.
It also asked the court for “such further and other relief” as it might seem fit.
On the breach of contract, Mr Abdul-Karim’s solicitor, Solomon Korli, said the IHMC was unable to provide aircraft at the times agreed upon (on or about December 7, 2007) until after the expiry of the official closing date of the King Abdul-Aziz Airport in Jeddah on December 14, 2007.
The solicitor said the defendants “would not have been able to transport one pilgrim but for the intervention of the government which negotiated and secured an extension of the closing date of the Jeddah Airport and arranged for additional aircraft to augment the number secured by the defendants outside of the agreed time frame”.
He indicated that as the closure of the Jeddah Airport was imminent, some pilgrims called off the trip altogether while others made alternative arrangements and travelled to Saudi Arabia by themselves.
“Notwithstanding the non-availability of any aircraft within the time frame and in rapid succession, the defendants negligently caused the pilgrims to camp in Accra under very appalling conditions. When the aeroplanes finally arrived, the entire boarding process was chaotic as pilgrims were compelled to part with various sums of money for boarding passes and were further compelled by the absence of order to struggle to board them in order to secure seats on the aircraft” the solicitor said.
He argued that the members of the Hajj Council failed to take reasonable care in preparing for the Hajj and that if the members had acted prudently, they would not have failed to procure adequate aeroplanes to transport all the pilgrims in good time to perform the Hajj.
Ghanaian pilgrims stranded in Mecca
December 27, 2007
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
Two thousands seven hundred Ghanaian Muslims pilgrimage to Mecca are uncertain about their return journey home.
Sources close to the Hajj Committee confirmed to the Daily Graphic that one of the pilgrims died on the flight from Accra to Dubai while two others died in Jeddah and Mecca at different stages of the journey through natural causes.
The identity of the three are being withheld until their relatives back home are informed.
Some of the pilgrims told the Daily Graphic via telephone that the members of the Interim Hajj Management Council were holding series of meetings with the airline operators on the dates for the airlifting of the pilgrims.
Sources close to the Hajj Committee said the original date for the return journey was January 7, 2008, but that date changed following the failure of the airline operators to lift the pilgrims on the first agreed date of December 7, 2007.
The sources said the Hajj Committee and the airline operators initially agreed that the pilgrims would spend about five weeks in Saudi Arabia.
However, the sources said, because the pilgrims left for Saudi Arabia just when the Hajj rites started, they could not go to Madina or spend any day before the start of the pilgrimage to make up for the days.
The sources said now that the pilgrimage was over, the pilgrims did not understand why they should be made to spend some weeks there to make up for the five weeks.
Some of the pilgrims told the Daily Graphic that they were supposed to visit Madina and spend three days there as part of the package, before they return home.
However, they said, they were unable to go to Madina because they were not sure of the time they would be coming back home, since they were supposed to move to Jeddah.
The Ghana Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Mr Rashid Bawa, was reported to have said the pilgrims would stay for six weeks but the aircraft liaison officer of the Hajj Committee, Alhaji Shams Kwakwa, refuted that claim.
He insisted that the airline operators were ready to fly the pilgrims back home on the agreed date of January 7, 2008 and that the Hajj Committee members were still having meetings with them on that issue.
Some 2,700 Ghanaian pilgrims are performing this year’s Hajj. They went to Saudi Arabia after the closure of the Jeddah Airport due to the delay in the arrival of their flights.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
Two thousands seven hundred Ghanaian Muslims pilgrimage to Mecca are uncertain about their return journey home.
Sources close to the Hajj Committee confirmed to the Daily Graphic that one of the pilgrims died on the flight from Accra to Dubai while two others died in Jeddah and Mecca at different stages of the journey through natural causes.
The identity of the three are being withheld until their relatives back home are informed.
Some of the pilgrims told the Daily Graphic via telephone that the members of the Interim Hajj Management Council were holding series of meetings with the airline operators on the dates for the airlifting of the pilgrims.
Sources close to the Hajj Committee said the original date for the return journey was January 7, 2008, but that date changed following the failure of the airline operators to lift the pilgrims on the first agreed date of December 7, 2007.
The sources said the Hajj Committee and the airline operators initially agreed that the pilgrims would spend about five weeks in Saudi Arabia.
However, the sources said, because the pilgrims left for Saudi Arabia just when the Hajj rites started, they could not go to Madina or spend any day before the start of the pilgrimage to make up for the days.
The sources said now that the pilgrimage was over, the pilgrims did not understand why they should be made to spend some weeks there to make up for the five weeks.
Some of the pilgrims told the Daily Graphic that they were supposed to visit Madina and spend three days there as part of the package, before they return home.
However, they said, they were unable to go to Madina because they were not sure of the time they would be coming back home, since they were supposed to move to Jeddah.
The Ghana Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Mr Rashid Bawa, was reported to have said the pilgrims would stay for six weeks but the aircraft liaison officer of the Hajj Committee, Alhaji Shams Kwakwa, refuted that claim.
He insisted that the airline operators were ready to fly the pilgrims back home on the agreed date of January 7, 2008 and that the Hajj Committee members were still having meetings with them on that issue.
Some 2,700 Ghanaian pilgrims are performing this year’s Hajj. They went to Saudi Arabia after the closure of the Jeddah Airport due to the delay in the arrival of their flights.
Last batch of pilgrims leaves for Mecca
December 18, 2007
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE last batch of Ghanaian pilgrims numbering about 400 left Accra for Jeddah at about 5:40 p.m. yesterday to perform the pilgrimage, after an 11-day ordeal at the Aviation Social Centre.
That covered the whole 2,700 Ghanaian pilgrims who secured their visas as approved by the Saudi Arabian Hajj authorities to perform this year’s Hajj.
The pilgrims used six flights comprising three by 747 KABO Airlines and three by Tristar Airlines.
Few of the pilgrims had earlier on left with the Emirate Air and Egypt Air following the delay in the arrival of the flights.
The last flight, the 747 KABO Airline with 505 capacity, covered all Ghanaian pilgrims, and even accommodated some Ghanaians who secured their visas in neighbouring Benin, as well as some Beninois nationals.
The airlifting of all the contingent of the Ghanaian pilgrims is described as a miracle by members of the Interim Hajj Management Committee, Hajj agents and some pilgrims.
The first batch of 362, all of them part of the 499 who could not embark on the journey last year, who were supposed to leave on December 5, 2007, started sleeping outside the Aviation Social Centre on December 6, 2007 and the other pilgrims also added to the number.
Reports of the arrival of flights kept flowing from the Hajj committee and the government for about one week, but no flight arrived until the very last Friday, December 14, when the Jeddah Airport was officially supposed to be closed, that the ALAMA Airline, which was contracted by the Hajj committee to airlift the pilgrims, brought in one aircraft.
Following pleas by the government and the operators of ALAMA Airline, authorities of the Jeddah Airport extended the deadline for the closure for Ghanaian pilgrims to Sunday midnight and further extended it to Monday midnight.
Some of the pilgrims lost hope at a point and left for their various homes, but their agents recalled them to embark on the pilgrimage when the flights started arriving.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE last batch of Ghanaian pilgrims numbering about 400 left Accra for Jeddah at about 5:40 p.m. yesterday to perform the pilgrimage, after an 11-day ordeal at the Aviation Social Centre.
That covered the whole 2,700 Ghanaian pilgrims who secured their visas as approved by the Saudi Arabian Hajj authorities to perform this year’s Hajj.
The pilgrims used six flights comprising three by 747 KABO Airlines and three by Tristar Airlines.
Few of the pilgrims had earlier on left with the Emirate Air and Egypt Air following the delay in the arrival of the flights.
The last flight, the 747 KABO Airline with 505 capacity, covered all Ghanaian pilgrims, and even accommodated some Ghanaians who secured their visas in neighbouring Benin, as well as some Beninois nationals.
The airlifting of all the contingent of the Ghanaian pilgrims is described as a miracle by members of the Interim Hajj Management Committee, Hajj agents and some pilgrims.
The first batch of 362, all of them part of the 499 who could not embark on the journey last year, who were supposed to leave on December 5, 2007, started sleeping outside the Aviation Social Centre on December 6, 2007 and the other pilgrims also added to the number.
Reports of the arrival of flights kept flowing from the Hajj committee and the government for about one week, but no flight arrived until the very last Friday, December 14, when the Jeddah Airport was officially supposed to be closed, that the ALAMA Airline, which was contracted by the Hajj committee to airlift the pilgrims, brought in one aircraft.
Following pleas by the government and the operators of ALAMA Airline, authorities of the Jeddah Airport extended the deadline for the closure for Ghanaian pilgrims to Sunday midnight and further extended it to Monday midnight.
Some of the pilgrims lost hope at a point and left for their various homes, but their agents recalled them to embark on the pilgrimage when the flights started arriving.
First batch of Ghanaian pilgrims leaves Dec 7
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE first batch of 362 Ghanaian pilgrims, all of them part of the 499 who could not embark on the journey last year, are expected to leave for Saudi Arabia at dawn today to perform the pilgrimage (Hajj).
In all, 2,700 Ghanaians are expected to perform this year’s Hajj, which starts on December 18, 2007.
The Interim Hajj Management Committee (IHMC) has contracted ALAMA Airline of Libya to airlift the pilgrims with two aircraft. The bigger aircraft with a 467-passenger capacity is expected to make three trips, while the smaller one, which takes 362 passengers is, on the other hand, expected to make four trips.
Meanwhile, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Accra had declined to give visas to 300 other prospective Ghanaian pilgrims, claiming that it had exhausted the 2,700 quota for Ghana this year.
The embassy had already issued 2,700 visas and returned the passports of the remaining 300 pilgrims to the Interim Hajj Management Committee (IHMC) on Thursday.
The Chairman of the IHMC, Ustaz Seidu Ahmed, told the Daily Graphic that his outfit thought that the quota was 3,000 and worked towards it, but the Saudi Embassy officials said they received instruction from the Saudi Arabian Hajj authorities that Ghana’s quota had been pegged at 2,700.
He said his outfit had written a letter through the Ghana Ambassador to Saudi Arabia requesting the extension of the quota.
Ustaz Ahmed said the Ghanaian diplomats had informed the committee that the letter had reached the Saudi Arabian Minister of Hajj Affairs, and was hopeful that they would receive favourable response.
Besides, he said, there had been some intervention moves from “high levels” to get the Saudi Arabian authorities to increase the quota.
Ustaz Ahmed indicated that the 300 prospective pilgrims who could not secure the visas had paid just before the October 10, 2007 deadline for the payment of Hajj fares.
He gave the assurance that if the committee failed to secure the visas for the 300 prospective pilgrims, the committee would refund their monies to them.
Reports indicated that about 500 would-be pilgrims could not secure the visas, but he insisted that only 300 people had paid to the committee.
The acting Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Hajj Agents Association, Alhaji Issah Umar Suleiman, confirmed to the Daily Graphic that the Saudi Arabian Embassy had refused the visas of 300 prospective pilgrims who had paid through them.
He, however, appealed to the relevant authorities to intervene to have the quota increased in order to guard against disappointing the 300 would-be pilgrims.
THE first batch of 362 Ghanaian pilgrims, all of them part of the 499 who could not embark on the journey last year, are expected to leave for Saudi Arabia at dawn today to perform the pilgrimage (Hajj).
In all, 2,700 Ghanaians are expected to perform this year’s Hajj, which starts on December 18, 2007.
The Interim Hajj Management Committee (IHMC) has contracted ALAMA Airline of Libya to airlift the pilgrims with two aircraft. The bigger aircraft with a 467-passenger capacity is expected to make three trips, while the smaller one, which takes 362 passengers is, on the other hand, expected to make four trips.
Meanwhile, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Accra had declined to give visas to 300 other prospective Ghanaian pilgrims, claiming that it had exhausted the 2,700 quota for Ghana this year.
The embassy had already issued 2,700 visas and returned the passports of the remaining 300 pilgrims to the Interim Hajj Management Committee (IHMC) on Thursday.
The Chairman of the IHMC, Ustaz Seidu Ahmed, told the Daily Graphic that his outfit thought that the quota was 3,000 and worked towards it, but the Saudi Embassy officials said they received instruction from the Saudi Arabian Hajj authorities that Ghana’s quota had been pegged at 2,700.
He said his outfit had written a letter through the Ghana Ambassador to Saudi Arabia requesting the extension of the quota.
Ustaz Ahmed said the Ghanaian diplomats had informed the committee that the letter had reached the Saudi Arabian Minister of Hajj Affairs, and was hopeful that they would receive favourable response.
Besides, he said, there had been some intervention moves from “high levels” to get the Saudi Arabian authorities to increase the quota.
Ustaz Ahmed indicated that the 300 prospective pilgrims who could not secure the visas had paid just before the October 10, 2007 deadline for the payment of Hajj fares.
He gave the assurance that if the committee failed to secure the visas for the 300 prospective pilgrims, the committee would refund their monies to them.
Reports indicated that about 500 would-be pilgrims could not secure the visas, but he insisted that only 300 people had paid to the committee.
The acting Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Hajj Agents Association, Alhaji Issah Umar Suleiman, confirmed to the Daily Graphic that the Saudi Arabian Embassy had refused the visas of 300 prospective pilgrims who had paid through them.
He, however, appealed to the relevant authorities to intervene to have the quota increased in order to guard against disappointing the 300 would-be pilgrims.
"Arrest Hajj Council members"
December 10, 2007
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Minister of the Interior, Mr Kwamena Bartels, has ordered the arrest and prosecution of members of the Interim Hajj Management Committee (IHMC), following the four-day ordeal which 2,700 would-be Ghanaian pilgrims have gone through at the Kotoka International Airport.
Mr Bartels gave the order when he visited the stranded pilgrims at the Aviation Social Centre in Accra yesterday to sympathise with them.
The would-be pilgrims have been sleeping in deplorable conditions at the place since last Friday, awaiting the committee to secure flights for them to fulfil their life-long dream of performing the Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam.
This year’s Hajj starts on Tuesday, December 18, and the Jeddah Airport is expected to be closed by Friday, December 14, but neither the members of the committee nor the agents seem to be sure of when the aircraft to airlift the would-be pilgrims will arrive in the country.
Mr Bartels described as unpardonable the failure of the committee to secure the flights for the pilgrims after it had taken $2,300 from each of them.
He recalled that the Hajj Council was unable to airlift 499 pilgrims to perform last year’s Hajj and that those people were yet to embark on the trip this year.
The minister noted that the Jeddah Airport might be closed by Friday and wondered how the committee could secure the flights to convey all the 2,700 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia before the deadline.
He warned that “we (the government) will arrest the members of the committee, investigate them and put them in jail if found guilty”.
He promised that the government would retrieve all the money paid by the would-be pilgrims from the committee members and give it back to the disappointed pilgrims.
Some of the pilgrims appealed to the government to intervene and secure flights for them.
One of the stranded pilgrims, Madam Ayisha Ibrahim, from Kumasi told the Daily Graphic that she had been forced, under the circumstances, to sleep on a polythene bag, which had affected her body, since she had direct contact with stones.
Madam Fuseini Iddrisu from Tamale was sad about the situation and was not sure about her fate.
The committee moved the pilgrims within the premises of the Aviation Social Centre on Sunday and erected tents, bathrooms and mobile toilet facilities for them.
However, some pilgrims felt that those facilities were just slightly better than their previous situation outside the centre.
Food sellers are in full-time business, as they are making brisk business.
Sources close to the committee indicated that the ALAMA aircraft from Libya which was contracted to airlift the pilgrims might not be able to fulfil its contractual obligation and that the committee had secured two flights from Saudi Arabia with about 500 capacity to airlift the pilgrims. Each flight is expected to go on three occasions before the closure of the Jeddah Airport.
The aircraft were expected to arrive by 1:30 p.m. yesterday but by press time the flights had not yet arrived.
Meanwhile, members of the committee were reportedly engaged in an emergency meeting outside their offices yesterday on how to guarantee the arrival of the flights.
Later, a press statement signed by Mr Bartels said the government had set up an emergency task force made of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to investigate whether or not “monies paid by the pilgrims have been transfered for the chartering of aircraft to airlift the pilgrims”.
It said the task force was also to find out whether arrangements for the pilgrims’ accommodation had been made, whether arrangements had been made to receive them at the Jeddah Airport in Saudi Arabia.
The statement said the task force would also establish whether the 499 pilgrims who could not perform the pilgrimage last year were being given priority this year.
Meanwhile, it said, the government had through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested the Saudi Arabian Government for an extension of the deadline of the closure of the Jeddah Airport to enable the Interim Hajj Management Committee to complete arrangements to airlift the pilgrims to that country.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Minister of the Interior, Mr Kwamena Bartels, has ordered the arrest and prosecution of members of the Interim Hajj Management Committee (IHMC), following the four-day ordeal which 2,700 would-be Ghanaian pilgrims have gone through at the Kotoka International Airport.
Mr Bartels gave the order when he visited the stranded pilgrims at the Aviation Social Centre in Accra yesterday to sympathise with them.
The would-be pilgrims have been sleeping in deplorable conditions at the place since last Friday, awaiting the committee to secure flights for them to fulfil their life-long dream of performing the Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam.
This year’s Hajj starts on Tuesday, December 18, and the Jeddah Airport is expected to be closed by Friday, December 14, but neither the members of the committee nor the agents seem to be sure of when the aircraft to airlift the would-be pilgrims will arrive in the country.
Mr Bartels described as unpardonable the failure of the committee to secure the flights for the pilgrims after it had taken $2,300 from each of them.
He recalled that the Hajj Council was unable to airlift 499 pilgrims to perform last year’s Hajj and that those people were yet to embark on the trip this year.
The minister noted that the Jeddah Airport might be closed by Friday and wondered how the committee could secure the flights to convey all the 2,700 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia before the deadline.
He warned that “we (the government) will arrest the members of the committee, investigate them and put them in jail if found guilty”.
He promised that the government would retrieve all the money paid by the would-be pilgrims from the committee members and give it back to the disappointed pilgrims.
Some of the pilgrims appealed to the government to intervene and secure flights for them.
One of the stranded pilgrims, Madam Ayisha Ibrahim, from Kumasi told the Daily Graphic that she had been forced, under the circumstances, to sleep on a polythene bag, which had affected her body, since she had direct contact with stones.
Madam Fuseini Iddrisu from Tamale was sad about the situation and was not sure about her fate.
The committee moved the pilgrims within the premises of the Aviation Social Centre on Sunday and erected tents, bathrooms and mobile toilet facilities for them.
However, some pilgrims felt that those facilities were just slightly better than their previous situation outside the centre.
Food sellers are in full-time business, as they are making brisk business.
Sources close to the committee indicated that the ALAMA aircraft from Libya which was contracted to airlift the pilgrims might not be able to fulfil its contractual obligation and that the committee had secured two flights from Saudi Arabia with about 500 capacity to airlift the pilgrims. Each flight is expected to go on three occasions before the closure of the Jeddah Airport.
The aircraft were expected to arrive by 1:30 p.m. yesterday but by press time the flights had not yet arrived.
Meanwhile, members of the committee were reportedly engaged in an emergency meeting outside their offices yesterday on how to guarantee the arrival of the flights.
Later, a press statement signed by Mr Bartels said the government had set up an emergency task force made of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to investigate whether or not “monies paid by the pilgrims have been transfered for the chartering of aircraft to airlift the pilgrims”.
It said the task force was also to find out whether arrangements for the pilgrims’ accommodation had been made, whether arrangements had been made to receive them at the Jeddah Airport in Saudi Arabia.
The statement said the task force would also establish whether the 499 pilgrims who could not perform the pilgrimage last year were being given priority this year.
Meanwhile, it said, the government had through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested the Saudi Arabian Government for an extension of the deadline of the closure of the Jeddah Airport to enable the Interim Hajj Management Committee to complete arrangements to airlift the pilgrims to that country.
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