The Ministry of Social Welfare which is the sole ministry to coordinate Hajj program have reacted angrily to baseless and unfounded lies peddled on social media about government over the way they are handling this year’s Hajj programme.
Speaking to this reporter last Friday, members of the Hajj committee said, the current brouhaha about some intending pilgrims was grilled by discipline and law abiding pilgrim who did not go through the normal process of the Hajj program. "We have advised and warned all intending pilgrims to take slip at the Social Welfare ministry before paying into the bank. Those who have problem now boycotted the system and paid directly to hajj account at Commercial Bank," they noted. “We only processed the ones that took slips from us and paid to Commercial Bank” they said. Adding that, for all Hajj issues, the Ministry in collaboration with the office of the Vice President is working closely on how they will resolve the impasse as early as possible.
For many years, the annual pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Mecca in Saudi Arabia to perform one of the five pillars of Islam – the Hajj – was marred by corruption and huge disappointments for many pilgrims that were swindled and left stranded at the Lungi airport, Abuja in Nigeria and lately at the Miatta Conference Center.
With the Kingdom of Qatar having donated some scholarships to the Government of Sierra Leone for this year’s Hajj, Vice President, Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh who is himself a very devout Muslim has assured the nation that there will be no ‘yuki-yuki” in the award of this year’s scholarships.“We will ensure this years’ intending pilgrims do not suffer as it happened in the 2017 pilgrimage that was marred with corruption which subsequently left hundreds, including traditional leaders including women stranded” VP assured.
In the name of equality and equity, he said, the unlimited scholarships will be distributed among all the regions of the country. Furthermore, as a mark of political inclusivity, all the political parties will benefit from the scholarships.
Each constituency, all Mayors, Council Chairpersons and district council heads will be represented. VP Jalloh assured also that all those that have paid their hard earned monies to perform the Hajj will not be disappointed. “We want to create a standard and make sure every Sierra Leonean enjoys the Hajj program,” VP Jalloh said, adding: “We have setup various committees to make everything go on smoothly”. He noted.