The 2024 flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama has acknowledged the high cost of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia for Ghanaian Muslims.

Mr Mahama, has thus promised to decrease Hajj expenses if elected President in the 2024 general elections in December.

The former president pointed out that the current Hajj cost of GH¢75,000 is excessively high, making it challenging for many regular Muslims to afford the pilgrimage to Mecca.

He made this pledge during the Eid prayers with the Ahlussuna Wal-Jamah Muslim group at the forecourt of the State House in Accra on Sunday, June 16.

“Our pilgrims are in Mecca performing the Hajj. May Allah bring them safely home to us. Those who have been able to go are the privileged ones because we have had fares at GH¢75,000.

“It is very difficult for the ordinary Muslim to perform the Hajj, but Insha Allah if we win in this election and we come into government, we are going to work to reduce the Hajj fare so that everybody can go,” he stated.

A former Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Mustapha Batalima Abubakar has raised similar concerns.

He warned that the current Hajj Board risks running down Hajj operations in Ghana through the implementation of what he describes as exorbitant charges.

The charges, which have seen an increase of more than five hundred per cent, have left thousands of Ghanaian pilgrims with no option but to embark on the pilgrimage through alternative routes instead of going through the Hajj Board.

Speaking on Joy FM Midday News he noted that “you will realise that over the last few years, we have had people trying to use the backdoor to embark on the hajj because for them the cost of hajj now is very expensive”.

He noted that during former President John Mahama's time, Hajj fares were ₵11,900.00, but now the cost has risen to ₵75,000.00.

For many years, there have been several complaints about Ghana's organisation of the annual pilgrimage for Muslims.

Two Ghanaian pilgrims died at this year's Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

The deceased persons, reportedly from Damongo in the Savannah region, passed away on separate days; one on Sunday, June 9, and the other on Wednesday, June 12.
More than 4,000 Ghanaian pilgrims are in Saudi Arabia for the annual Hajj ritual.

The Chairman of the Hajj Board who confirmed the deaths noted that the deceased have been laid to rest in line with Islamic customs. Meanwhile, he announced a Ghanaian female pilgrim also gave birth during the Hajj in the Holy City of Mecca.