The chairman of the National Hajj Committee Alhaji Alhassan Bene has explained that the recent directive by the Passport Office and the National Security Council to make passports used by pilgrims for the Hajj unusable for any other travelling was in the interest of Ghanaians. According to the Hajj committee chairman, the decision was taken to discourage non-Ghanaians from using Ghana as their travelling hub to the holy city due to the relatively cheaper cost of travelling from Ghana. Speaking on Asempa FM’s current affairs programme “Ekosii sen”, he debunked claims that Ghanaians going on the pilgrimage will not be able to use their passports after the hajj saying “If a pilgrim is a Ghanaian, the birth certificate he or she used for the documentation will be checked since the certificates come in two types which include the national one and the one acquired from the Chief Imam”. He continued by explaining that “In the situation where one has the National Birth certificate his or her passport will not be embossed with the special stamp which renders the passport invalid for future travelling but if it is the one from the National chief Imam’s office which is normally easier to acquire, the special stamp will be embossed in it because the suspicion is that foreigners use the Imams office to go on the Hajj very often”. He said this directive was also necessary in order to prevent people from using the chief Imams office for fraudulent purposes, hence only those who acquire their certificate from the National Chief Imam’s office will be affected by this directive. Alhaji Bene further noted that no one should see this approach as an abuse on any one’s right as a Ghanaian because the security of the nation is paramount to any person’s or group’s interest.