Accra, Nov. 21, GNA – The Hajj Board of Ghana has announced that pilgrims to the 2020 Hajj will pay the same fare of Gh̸19,500.00 as those of last year.

Sheikh I.C Quaye, the Chairman of the Board, who made this known, said this was due to Government’s decision to absorb the incremental difference.

The Chairman made the announcement at a thanksgiving ceremony in Accra for a successful Hajj in 2019.

He said the move by the Government was in spite of a decision by the Saudi authorities to increase the visa fees for the 2020 pilgrims by $80.

The decision, he said, was made in consultation with the Hajj Board and the Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.

He said previous Hajj Boards had over the years been faced with debt overhang, adding that, with this phenomenon the current Board changed its strategy.

“We hope to end our tenure without any debt overhang even though we inherited huge debt from our predecessors,” he said.

Sheikh Quaye expressed gratitude to the President Akufo-Addo for putting measures in place to ensure that some 452 prospective pilgrims who could not travel, although they paid their monies in 2017, were given the opportunity.

They were working with support from the welfare endowment to ensure that their credibility was untainted, he said.

He announced  that Dawah teams had been set up to secure the spiritual and physical well-being of all Ghanaian pilgrims.

Measures had been put in place to curb issues of missing luggage, as well.

The Saudi officials, he said, had awarded Ghana a top prize for emerging as one of the leading countries that organised the best Hajj in 2019.

In attendance at the event was the National Chief Imam, regional chief imams, Sheikh Dr. Amin Bonsu, Sarki’s from the Zango communities, among other eminent persons.

Source: GNA