Less than a week after a press conference by the National Hajj Council (NHC) about their plans for this year’s Hajj, a National Chief Imam- endorsed Interim Hajj Management Council (IHMC) announced yesterday that flights for the annual religious exercise starts on November 25, 2008. Avoiding any mention of the NHC, Chairman of the reconstituted IHMC, Alhaji Limuna Mohammed Muniru, stated that he has a duty to manage the Hajj and would not be distracted adding that his body has already undertaken the necessary pre-Hajj procedures such as the securing of accommodation and the like. According to him they are working on a deal with Egypt Air to airlift Ghanaian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia. In a brief tracing of problems militating against Hajj operations, he recalled what a Saudi official told a Ghanaian team which was in the Kingdom recently for a pre-pilgrimage conference. “The problem with Ghanaians is that they do not engage decent airlines,” the Saudi said. Last year, Ghanaian pilgrims depended on a Saudi registered charter company to engage an airline for them, an arrangement which accounted for by and large the problems encountered in the season. To prove that it is the IHMC which has the authority to organize the Hajj this year, the chairman flaunted a number of documents including receipts for the securing of accommodation in Saudi Arabia and the provision of certain basic services in the Kingdom. That the NHC is even asking the IHMC to hand over such documents to them is a subtle recognition that “we are the authority mandated to organize the Hajj this year”. The securing of accommodation in Saudi Arabia this year, he recounted, has been very difficult because of what he said is the demolition of a number of high-rise buildings within the vicinity of the Holy Ka’aba to allow for the expansion of the mosque or Haram. The exercise has led to the appreciation of the cost of accommodation in Mecca and this has been transferred to prospective pilgrims, he added. Ghanaian Moslems will this year be expected to pay US$3,100 for the Hajj, which breakdown includes commission on air ticket, taxes, accommodation in both Mecca and Medina, services and transportation, medicare and bank charges. Payment of fares, the Chairman, said commences immediately and should be done through accredited Hajj agents. The cut-off date for payments, he went on, has been fixed for October 25, 2008 adding “we hope that prospective pilgrims would adhere to the deadline of payments to give the committee enough time to work on their manifest for smooth movements”. The return trips to Ghana, the chairman announced, would commence on 16th December and end on 23rd December, 2008. The reconstituted IHMC, Alhaji Muniru stated, is made up of seven persons whose names, he went on, has been communicated to the President. Alhaji Muniru told the media that he has his experience of taking part in previous Hajj operations as a coordinator to guard him in executing the assignment bestowed on him by the National Chief Imam and assured his fellow Moslems of success. As to how he can assert himself in the task ahead, he said that absolute independence is not possible but however assured that he would assert himself for the achievement of positive results. Last week, the NHC organized a press conference during which it warned Ghanaians not to make payments to the IHMC but rather to Antrak Airline outlets. The Council also warned that it would resist what it described as the imposition of the IHMC on Ghanaian Moslems to organize the Hajj this year.