NHRC OPPOSES HAJJ COMMITTEE (PAGE 3)

THE Northern Region Hajj Committee (NRHC) has expressed its opposition to the seven-member Interim Hajj Management Committee (IHMC) constituted by the National Chief Imam (NCI).
‘‘The move is not an intervention, but an ill-informed decision calculated to bring the good office of the NCI into disrepute; we therefore call on the office of the Chief Imam to disassociate itself from the committee to avoid embarrassment,’’ it stated.
It further questioned the reason for the delay in the formation of such a committee and said ‘‘with which groups of Muslims have they consulted to arrive at this decision to form a seven-member committee?’’
At a press conference in Tamale, the Chairman of the NRHC, Sheikh Abubakar Tanko, also indicated that the Hajj fare package announced by both the National Hajj Council and the Committee were without due process and consultations with the various regional Hajj committees.
‘‘We are of the opinion that the Hajj fare is not only high but also above the means of intended pilgrims,’’ he added. While the IHMC has fixed the fare at $3,100 the NHC haspegged theirs at $2,999.
‘‘No regional consensus was attained from any single region for the national Hajj organisation. Hajj affairs have been managed by Accra-based selected individuals in the name of the larger Muslim community individuals rather than the regional committees,’’ he stated.
According to Sheikh Tanko, since the NHC was established by the government in 2005, it should be the only body to see to the organisation of Hajj.
Sheikh Tanko said so far, five regional Hajj committees had been inaugurated and therefore called on the other regions to, as a matter of urgency, establish their committees ‘‘to avoid exploitation by Accra-based Muslim elite who are ever ready to take advantage of their lack of interest in Islamic affairs”.
The chairman observed that this practice over the years accounted for failed Hajj operations of 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 because no regional consensus was attained.
He has therefore called for an immediate intervention to ensure that this year’s Hajj pilgrimage was not messed up. ‘‘We Muslims in the region through our leaders, would advise our intended pilgrims to suspend the trip to save their lives, property and dignity.’’