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| Govt denies Involvement in Hajj Fiasco |
12/28/2006 |
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The government has denied any involvement in the organisation of this year’s Hajj. The Senior Special Aide to the Vice-President, Mr Yaw Buaben Asamoa, who made the denial yesterday, said neither the Office of the Vice-President nor any office of the Executive took direct part in the organisation of the Hajj.
He explained that it was the National Hajj Council (NHC) which had the responsibility for organising the Hajj and that to the best knowledge of the government ,the council was given the free hand to do its work.
Mr Asamoa’s denial was in reaction to allegations made against the Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, by Alhaji Asoma Banda, the Chairman of the Antrak Group, to the effect that the Vice-President had been responsible for the non-availability of flights to convey the pilgrims to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj and that the blame for the problems associated with the Hajj should be put squarely at his doorstep.
Alhaji Banda was reported to have said that he had sent an application to the Office of the Vice-President to be given the offer to organise flights for the pilgrims, which was allegedly turned down.
Mr Asamoa said the government came in only when the council could not secure flights to convey the pilgrims when the deadline for the closure of the Jeddah Airport was very close, explaining that it was able to secure the Sudanese Airways to convey some of the pilgrims and that there was another flight to convey the rest of the pilgrims but the closure of the Jeddah Airport last Monday nullified the effort.
He said the government used its diplomatic clout to ask for the extension of the closing date of the Jeddah Airport but that request appeared to have reached Saudi Arabia late.
“The Office of the Vice-President is not responsible for the organisation of the Hajj. The office never received any application from Alhaji Banda. There is no record of such an application in our office,” he stressed.
He said if the Office of the Vice-President had received such an application, it would have forwarded it to the NHC, which had the sole responsibility for organising the Hajj.
Mr Asamoa said as further evidence of the government’s commitment to solve the problems associated with the flights, the Presidential Jet was released to transport the crew of the Sudanese Airways to Accra.
Source:
Graphic
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