¢3.28 Billion cedis blown on NDC Protocol List for HAJJ

In a country that has consistently been described by the Mills-Mahama led NDC administration as broke, it was expected that “ostentatious and profligate expenditure”, to borrow the words of then Candidate Mills, would not be entertained.

Earlier this year, an amount of ¢1.3 billion was squandered on 'Item 13' by the transition team, a new record in shameful profligacy for a government that had vowed to keep needless spending to the barest minimum.

Information reaching The Statesman indicates that ¢3.28 billion cedis ($225,000) has been spent on a protocol list of NDC members handpicked from various households across the country to embark on this year's pilgrimage to Mecca.

Over 200 out of the 400 tickets intended for “cashless” Muslims intending to perform the Hajj was doled out to NDC sympathisers whose names appeared on a protocol list to the detriment of others who ostensibly are not NDC sympathisers.

Some of the 200 beneficiaries of the Hajj tickets who were unable to garner the miscellaneous cost for related expenses in Saudi Arabia were engaged in selling their offers for over GH¢2,000.

A number of anonymous clerics have expressed concern about the growing politicization of the Hajj this year saying the provision of free tickets for political expediency is certainly unislamic and should be shunned.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that this year, the number of Ghanaians performing the Hajj is below the 3000 quota which has always been exceeded.

Reasons for this year's reduced number could be financial reasons as well as the strict conditions placed on the annual religious ritual by the Saudi authorities.

The first flight to Mecca departed Ghana on Tuesday 10th November 2009, with the return trip commencing on the 12th December 2009.