The former Hajj Board has dismissed claims that it left behind a debt of over GH₵81 million from past Hajj pilgrimage trips.
The Chairman of the five-member interim Hajj Taskforce, Alhaji Collins Dauda, made this revelation at a press conference on Wednesday.
He explained that the amount is owed to various service providers for the pilgrimage.
“The amount is $5,409,536.66. I asked a young man around me to convert it into cedis, and he told me it was GH₵81,142,899.90. This is the debt this taskforce has to deal with. There is a company that provides catering services for our pilgrimage in Mecca, the airline that transported our pilgrims last year, and a company that provides accommodation,” he detailed.
However, former Hajj Board spokesperson Alhaji Abdul Rahman Gomda has refuted the claim.
While acknowledging that there was an outstanding debt, he insisted that it was not up to the stated amount.
“That is not the case. The actual amount owed is less than $5 million—it is $4,759,250. We inherited a debt—I repeat, we inherited a debt of $7.87 million when we took over,” Gomda stated in an interview on Accra-based Channel One TV.
He emphasized that the former Hajj Board worked diligently to clear the inherited debt.
“I also wish to add that the word ‘discovery’ presupposes some hidden criminality on the part of the former board. No. The handing-over notes clearly included these financial challenges,” he explained.
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