Interventions to make Hajj more comfortable announced
The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has announced a number of interventions to make this year’s Hajj more comfortable for prospective pilgrims.
They include feeding the pilgrims in Jeddah and Medina and providing transportation for them, especially the aged, from their residence to the airport.
Text messages would be sent to interested pilgrims on flight arrangements, as well as publications in the dailies to provide information on the pilgrimage two weeks before the Hajj, the Vice-President added.
He announced the measures when he addressed Muslims at the Sunyani Central Mosque last Sunday as part of his one-day visit to the Brong Ahafo Region, during which he also interacted with Muslims who are currently observing the 30-day Ramadan fast in Techiman and Kintampo.
The visit formed part of the second phase of the Vice-President’s nationwide Ramadan tour which took him to the Upper East, Northern and Brong Ahafo regions.
Dr Bawumia was accompanied by some government officials, including the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh; the Member of Parliament for Sunyani East, Mr Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh; the Executive Director of the National Service Secretariat, Mr Mustapha Ussif; the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Sunyani, Dr Evelyn Ama Kumi-Richardson, among other personalities.
Government’s commitment
The Vice-President said the government was committed to instituting a number of measures to make the Hajj a “wahala-free pilgrimage”, adding that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo would not disappoint Ghanaians for voting massively for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2016 general election.
“I’ve known Nana Akufo-Addo very well from 2008 to date; I have worked with him; he is my master. I know him to be a truthful man and he keeps his promises and has already implemented some of his campaign promises,” he stated.
He recalled that during the 2016 electioneering, Nana Akufo-Addo promised all Zongo communities that he would establish the Zongo Development Fund to help the people living in the Zongos.
That, Dr Bawumia said, had been done with the allocation of GH¢219 million to the Zongo Development Fund for the development of Zongo communities.
He said the enactment of the Zongo Development Fund Law would ensure that every year, funds were earmarked in the budget for the fund to help boost development in the Zongo communities.
He said a team of developers would soon visit various Zongo communities to carry out an assessment to help the government identify the kind of projects to be embarked on in the Zongos.
Intercessory prayers
The Vice-President challenged Muslims to continue to pray for the country and the President to enable him to fulfil all promises to speed up the development of the country.
“It’s a difficult task you have given to Nana Akufo-Addo, and I, therefore, appeal to you to use the Ramadan period to pray for the government to succeed,” he said.
Dr Bawumia said the NPP government would need the support and intervention of Allah, through their prayers, to fulfil its 2016 campaign promises.
