Food for Hajj pilgrims not govt’s duty - Murtala Mohammed

A Deputy Information and Media Relations Minister, Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, has stated categorically that it has never been the practice for government to provide food for Hajj pilgrims.

He told Joy FM's Top Story food was also not part of the package put together by the National Hajj Committee.

A day after President John Mahama has lauded this year’s Hajj pilgrimage as one of the most successful of all time, information gathered by Joy News from Saudi Arabia suggested that over 5000 Ghanaian Muslims observing this year’s pilgrimage are stranded in Mina without food and water.

The pilgrims claimed organizers of the Hajj including the national chairman Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko have deserted them with more than a week left to stay in Saudi Arabia. But Alhaji Tanko has flatly denied the allegation, noting, "I have always been with them, 24 hours".

Earlier, speaking to Joy News on Wednesday from Mina, Saudi Arabia, Yusif Ibrahim mentioned inadequate accommodation as one of the challenges they are encountering.

“Some [pilgrims] don’t have a place to sleep,” he stated.

Also, he complained about the food given to them which usually do not come on time, he said, stressing “even the food that was given to the women was very, very bad”.

An unidentified woman speaking on top of her voice at the background complained: “Come and see how they are handling us. They are not handling us well.”

Yusif Ibrahim later told Joy FM's Top Story, “things are improving a little bit”, but insisted food and accommodation is still a challenge.

He noted that the head of the delegation visited them Wednesday morning and assured them that he “is trying to solve the problem”.

Meanwhile, Murtala Mohammed said the situation came to him as news and also denied claims by some of the pilgrims that they paid $4,500 to make the holy pilgrimage.

Rather, each pilgrim who went to Mecca through the National Hajj Committee paid GHC 6,800, he said.

This money, he explained, covers return air ticket, accommodation and internal transportation.

He suspected that persons complaining about the food might have had a different arrangement with their personal agents.

“It is never the responsibility of government [to provide them food], neither it is the responsibility of the Hajj board, it is the responsibility of the pilgrims.”

He noted that pilgrims - both rich and poor – usually share a common room and wear the same cloth so that it would be difficult to differentiate between the rich and poor pilgrims.

He maintained that this year’s Hajj has seen the “most excellent” arrangement.