Hajj Council Sacked

The National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharabutu has dissolved the National Hajj Council (NHC) and replaced it with a Ghana Pilgrimage Organisation (GPO), which encompasses representatives of motley of Muslim organizations.

The action is said to have followed a go-ahead from the Chief of Staff, Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani to the Chief Imam that he should do all he can to ensure hitch-free Hajj in the country.

The Chief Imam is said to have consulted the Chief of Staff on the need to change the order of Hajj operations, which had been handed over by government to Muslims to manage as a measure to ensure that the travails encountered in the operations were obviated.

Things, however, did not go according to expectation, as witnessed by last year's failed Hajj.

The spiritual leader, upon the go-ahead from the Chief of Staff, then proceeded to consult with other stakeholders on the way forward, an action which culminated in the restructured Hajj management body.

The new GPO which was announced should have been inaugurated almost immediately but for a few constraints which needed to be ironed out, according to a source close to the new body.

DAILY GUIDE can state authoritatively that the organizations being represented in the new body were drawn from the ten regions of the country, Shia Muslims, the Hajj Agents Association, Council of Muslim Chiefs, a government representative, Federation of Muslim Women's Organisations (FOMWAG) and the Coalition of Muslim Organisations of Ghana (COMOG).

The executive wing of the organization would be manned by a new chairman (non-denominational), vice chairman, Ahlu Sunna, Executive Secretary, former Hajj Council, Deputy Executive Secretary, Tijjaniya Muslims, Treasurer, former Hajj Council, Deputy treasurer, Central Region, Operations, Eastern Region and Federation of Muslim Councils, and a member from the Ghana Muslim Women Caucus.

Alhaji Mustapha Ibrahim, chairman of the dissolved council, has however kicked against the dissolution, stating it is only the government which can fire them because, as he put it, “government appointed us”.

He told a number of Hajj stakeholders, in the presence of some media personnel, that it is not true that government had no hand in the management of the Hajj.

“Government is lying if it says it has no hands in the management of the Hajj,” he stated.

The dissolved Hajj Council, before this development, suffered from a bad press after it was cited for corruption and inefficiency by a committee of enquiry set up to probe its activities with particular reference to the last Hajj.

Leading members behind the new organization had a meeting with the National Chief Imam yesterday, during which fruitful discussions were said to have been held.

Alhaji Ibrahim Mustapha who runs a successful Islamic NGO has also been quoted as expressing his helplessness in the management of the Hajj because, according to him, his word is not revered by the membership.

He just fell short of claiming that he was only a lame duck in the Hajj Council.

Government washed its hands off the operations of Hajj after a Conference was convened to dissect the problems associated with the religious exercise.

The diplomatic aspect of the pilgrimage, which requires the role of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, must precede all Hajj exercises since the Saudi government would not deal with non-government bodies.

Meanwhile, two persons representing a couple of stakeholder organizations are reportedly staying put and refusing to leave office even after the dissolution of the Council.

By A.R. Gomda