The former Hajj Board has responded to claims made by the leader of the 2025 Hajj Task Force, Collins Dauda, regarding legacy debts from previous Hajj operations.

In a statement signed by former Hajj Board Chairman, Ben Abdallah Banda, the Board expressed concern over what it describes as an incomplete narrative surrounding the debts inherited by successive administrations.

According to the former Hajj Board, when the Nana Akufo-Addo administration took office in 2017, it inherited a $7.8 million debt from the previous Hajj managers under the NDC government.

This amount included payments made by 425 fully paid prospective pilgrims who were unable to embark on the 2016 Hajj pilgrimage, requiring either a refund or rebooking.

The Board credits former President Akufo-Addo and then-Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia for ensuring that these stranded individuals were eventually airlifted.

The statement further clarified that at the end of the Board’s tenure in 2024, the outstanding debt stood at $4,859,250, as documented in the official handing-over notes submitted to the Chief of Staff.

“It is unfair and unfortunate to reference the current legacy debt without acknowledging the debt we inherited in 2017,” the statement read, stressing that governance is a continuum involving both assets and liabilities.

The former Board attributed the accumulation of debt in Hajj operations to various factors, particularly fluctuations in the foreign exchange market.

They urged the current Task Force to present a full historical account of the legacy debt to avoid misleading the Muslim community.

Despite the disagreement over the debt narrative, the former Hajj Board extended its best wishes to the new Hajj Task Force in their efforts to organize this year’s pilgrimage successfully.