The Interim Hajj Management Committee (lllMC) is the only recognised body with the mandate to organise this year's pilgrimage to Mecca. The National Chief Imam, Sheikh Usman Nuhu Sharubutu said this in apparent reaction to the controversy that has bedeviled the hajj. He, therefore, called on the restructured National Hajj Council (NHC) to join the IHMC to manage the operations of this year's pilgrimage, since his sole concern was to ensure sanity in the organisation of the Hajj to achieve the best for the Muslim community. Sheikh Sharubutu said he used his authority as the spiritual leader of all Muslims in Ghana to form the IHMC to correct the failings of the previous National Hajj Council and those of the first IHMC, which led to the inability of 728 people to perform the Hajj. Sheikh Sharubutu was speaking with the Daily Graphic through his Administrative Manager, Alhaji Adam Musah Abubakar, in tbe light of the raging controversy between the NHC and the IHMC over who had the mandate to organise this year's Hajj. The restructured NHC was formed following recommendations from the National Hajj Conference, which was held in Accra early this year. The seven-member IHMC, on the other hand, was constituted by the National Chief Imam to manage this year's Haii. Sheikh Sharubutu stated that he did not have any confrontation with anybody and that he was the spiritual leader for all Muslims in Ghana, irrespective of their ethnic or political affiliation. Therefore, he said, he only constituted the IHMC to ensure a problem-free Haii this year. He said after the Hajj, he would consider setting up a body to manage the Hajj. The National Chief Imam said Hajj agents who dealt directly with prospective pilgrims had expressed their support for the IHMC, and indicated their resolve to work with it. That support, he said, gave an indication that the IHMC had the mandate and support to organise the Hajj. Hajj organisation in Ghana is always fraught with problems, ranging from delay departure to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, through late return journey to delays in the arrival of luggage. It is barely three months to the start of this year's Hajj, but still two bodies, the NHC and IHMC, are both claiming the right to organise the Hajj. Source: Daily Graphic