By Nasratu Kargbo
Sierra Leonean Hajj Pilgrims will be returning on the 20th of July 2023, according to Sierra Leone’s Information Attaché to Saudi Arabia, Abu Bakarr Salieu Bah.
Bah made this disclosure in a brief interview by Politico on the 29th of June 2023. When asked to clarify the report of a Sierra Leonean pilgrim deceased, Bah stated that it was false.
He said the country has six hundred and forty pilgrims participating in this year’s Hajj in Muslim’s Holy city of Mecca, accompanied by seven government officials, two doctors, one pharmacist, and two nurses.
Speaking on some of the prayers and other rites performed during the pilgrim, Bah explained that when they got to Arafat on the 27th of June 2023, the pilgrims spent the rest of the day praying and making supplications till sunset before proceeding to Muzdalifah.
He further explained that they spent the night at Muzdalifah and left for Mina after Fajri (daybreak) prayers. “At Mina, they threw pebbles at the “Jamaratul Al-qabah” on Thursday and Friday respectively, a ritual they will do on Saturday” Bah explained.
Bah said in the last two years the government has done immensely well in minimizing the challenges pilgrims faced in previous years.
In a press release published by Bah, the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Hajj in Sierra Leone, Alhaji Murtada M. Sesay said that President Julius Maada Bio appointed a Task Force Committee on Hajj in April this year to undertake the Hajj. He said that the Task Force established a one-stop shop Hajj registration secretariat at Kingtom which facilitated registration, medical screening, and electronic visa issuance to the pilgrims.
“The establishment of the one-stop-shop secretariat made it easier for us to fast-track registration, medical screening, and issuance of electronic visas to the pilgrims smoothly, thereby ensuring that all the pilgrims are flown to Saudi Arabia in two batches on the 21 and 22 June 2023 respectively,” Alhaji Murtada Sesay said.
He acknowledged the vital role played by the Head of Mission of the Embassy of the Republic of Sierra Leone in Saudi Arabia, Ambassador Dr. Ibrahim Jalloh, and staff of the Embassy, whom he said collaborated with the Task Force Committee very well to help ensure a very successful Hajj.
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) reports that One Million, Eight Hundred Forty-five thousand and forty-five (1,845,045) are performing this year’s Hajj.
It added that among the pilgrims, One Million Six Hundred and Sixty Thousand Nine Hundred fifteen (1,660,915) pilgrims are from other countries and the rest Saudis.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (30/06/23)
