My Opinion – Restructuring Hajj management in Sierra Leone

As a Sierra Leonean Muslim who has worked with most of the Hajj agents as far back as in the late 1970’s, I want to highlight some important and burning issues regarding the abnormalities that have been taking place during the annual Muslim pilgrimage “Hajj” every year since my regular visits to the holy land of Mecca in 1992.

First of all, I must congratulate the Ernest Koroma led – APC government for its current moves and intervention to restructure the Hajj Management. I think this move, if materialized, will be appreciated in many quarters.

According to records, the history of Hajj and its ensuing problems dated way back to the early 1960s. Since then, the pilgrimage to Mecca, Sierra Leoneans have never a day passed by without devastating incidences. There has been innumerable mismanagement by the Hajj authority in Sierra Leone. The successive Hajj Missions in our country have failed the nation dismally over the years. However, the Saudi authorities have got volumes of irregularities and gross mismanagement in their annals for Sierra Leoneans in particular and Africans in general. Sierra Leone has track records for asking for late aircraft landing right at the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation in Saudi Arabia, the failure to pay Hajj royalties on time, the non payment for kitchens at Mina and even failing to complete payment for rented houses in both Al – Madina and Makkah. I believe these problems will not go down well with the concerned Hajj authorities in Saudi Arabia. All these compounding problems, ignorantly caused by our Hajj Mission and other countries from Africa, have compelled the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Hajj to clamp down regulatory rules for performing Hajj or Umra. Contractual agreements have to be signed by government appointed Hajj Missions which will be answerable to the Saudi authority in case of any default.

From the time of late Haja Dankay Kabia, Haja Sasso, Alhaji Kebbe, Alhaji Alie Koroma, Haja Rahman, Alhajie A.B.S.Janneh,Alhajie Y.D.Kamara, coming down to Alhajie Kargbo,Sheikh A.B.Conteh, Alhajie Swaray, Alhajie Tecxaco Bah and many others, have played important roles in leading people to Makkah for either Hajj or Umra but not without problems.

My purpose of sending this posting is to shed light on the “chronic” Hajj problems Sierra Leoneans have been encountering since time immemorial. I understand that the sheer ignorance to address those compelling issues before and after landing in the Holy Places of Makkah and Al Madina, has triggered the intervention of the current APC government to arrest the deteriorating condition of the annual Hajj performance by Sierra Leone pilgrims.

I wish to state that the Sierra Leone Hajj problems are in two folds.

A. The lack of cohesive and coherent effective central authority for the management of Hajj. Several bodies have emerged over the years but none has ever succeeded in bringing together all Hajj Agents under a single command with directives and guidance. All I have experienced is chaos and manipulation. It is well known that we have more than ten registered Hajj groups in the country:  Supreme Council, Hizbullah, Sham, Federation, Global International etc… Each and every one of these agencies is bent in knocking off one another, to capture more clients for the coming Hajj. No unity has ever been envisaged even at the structural level. Chaos is rife at the time of departing pilgrims from Freetown to Makkah.  Commotion at Lungi Airport is a major perennial problem at each time of departure. Each group struggles to hire cheaper aircraft to maximize profit. Some are bogus planes that have no landing rights in Saudi Arabia. Because of all these technicalities, the various groups have always failed to deliver the appropriate services badly needed by the pilgrims, whose primary aim is to see the HOUSE OF GOD and visit the GRAND MOSQUE OF PROPHET MOHAMMED (PBUH) in Al-Madina.

B. The failure of the mushrooming Hajj Agents and their represented organizations, to employ educationally competent graduates in Islamic Studies and able-bodied Sierra Leoneans to serve the most often aged and disabled pilgrims during the Hajj rituals in Al Madina and Makkah is a major issue to be addressed as changes are urgently needed. It is rather sad to know that many of our pilgrims are never fortunate to complete the performance of all Hajj rituals. Instead they are in the habit of delegating others to do the Stoning, Circumnavigation (Tawaf) of Al Kaaba seven times (7) and the running between the Safa and Marrwa also seven times (7). All these activities require huge amount of physical ability and strength. The lack of coordination and cooperation of our old, weak and sickly Hajj Agents, who also lack thorough knowledge of the terrain of Makkah and Al Madina as compared to the capable individuals among the students in the Kingdom, who can assist the helpless pilgrims, has always been a source of pain and suffering for the pilgrims. In view of such failure, our zestful pilgrims often resort to begging or asking for assistance from relatives and sympathizers to complete the rituals which they have paid for with such a big sum of money. Some pilgrims usually go about weeping, sobbing and even crying for being unable to complete the Hajj. These sad scenes naturally evoke the sympathy of kind hearted able Sierra Leone men and women to offer help to perform the remaining rituals.

The questions I would like to pose here are: Why should such a sad situation continue to occur, subjecting our respected pilgrims to cry for help in trying to fulfill their Hajj rituals? Who is to blame – the agent, the Hajj Mission or the pilgrim? Why the pressure of completing the Hajj rituals should lie on volunteers, instead of those who are responsible for the Hajj? Isn’t it right for the government to study the causes of the continuous problems of Hajj and supply remediable solutions? Why should a responsible government sit by idly watching its people undergoing sufferings for something it can professionally handle for the satisfaction of all the involved persons? The timely intervention of the government of Dr E.B.K’s to temporarily introduce reformatory measures to enhance the efficiency of Hajj services from now on, is a welcomed idea by any peaceful and loving Sierra Leonean wishing to perform Hajj.

I think some of our dignitaries who have been there to perform Hajj like, Vice President Alhajie Abu Bakar Sam Sumana, Foreign Minister, Haja Zainab Hawa Bangura, Alhajie Ambassador Dauda Kamara, Minister of Interior, Alhajie Minkailu Mansaray, Minister of Labour, Haja Janneh Kandeh, Deputy Minister of Social Welfare and Alhajie Ibrahim Kemoh Sesay, former Minister of Transportation and Aviation can testify that people have been suffering under these so-called agents. These high profiled personalities who have lived and observed the practical realities of the alarming creeping problems affecting the Sierra Leone pilgrims over the years, stand a vivid testimony to accelerate the restructuring of the Hajj management in Sierra Leone.  When such an action is taken, the long Hajj suffering over the years will be in the history of Hajj in our nation.

Thank you in advance Mr. President and your government.

Long Live Sierra Leone! Long Live the current ruling party !

Palomps Keita, Freetown

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