Hajj challenges force Vice President to postpone Czech visit

Vice President John Dramani Mahama has postponed his visit to the Czech Republic in the wake of delays being experienced by the last batch of prospective Hajj Pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.

A statement signed by the Vice President’s Spokesperson, John Abdulai Jinapor, explained that Mr Mahama was currently holding meetings with members of the Hajj Board and other stakeholders to find a solution to the latest development.

Mr Mahama was scheduled to leave Accra on Sunday, November 7, 2010 to attend a Ghana-Czech Republic Investment Forum.

The statement urged all would be pilgrims waiting to be airlifted to remain calm while government worked to resolve the difficulties.

The statement did not state the challenges that the pilgrims were facing.

However, the National Hajj Committee has said passports of pilgrims in Accra have been mixed up with non-pilgrims at the passport office and have become difficult to locate.

The government last year organised a problem-free Hajj for the first time in many years and was hoping to repeat it until this hitch with the last batch of pilgrims.

Source: GNA