The Government is planning to initiate a bill that will regulate, facilitate and streamline all pilgrimage activities in religious sects in the country.
Stakeholders revealed this development at a conference on the draft bill.
Government has set up a three-member committee to facilitate a series of consultations with stakeholders to make inputs into the composition of the bill.
[contextly_sidebar id=”8aHVrERfUQ9GhXbsfa9KZQ6RqFnmMnHE”]Citi News’ Farida Shaibu who was at the conference reported that the three-member committee comprises Rev Dr. Fred Degbe as the Chairman, Sheikh Issak Nuamah; the Spokesperson and Dr. Abdul Baasit Aziz Bamba; as the Secretary.
They are to draft the bill, which is expected to be laid before Parliament in less than a month.
Dr. Aziz Bamba said that the proposed bill, when passed into law, will address pertinent issues facing pilgrimages in Ghana.
“This is a bill that is seeking to coordinate, regulate and license and the activities of persons who are involved in religious pilgrimages.”
He added the “Hajj management committee, which is the proposal in the bill, will now be subsumed under the National Pilgrims Authority Bill.”
However, some stakeholders from the various religious groups believe the passage of the bill is unnecessary with some citing fears that the bill was going to allow the government to dictate how they profess their faith.
The General Secretary of the Ghana Muslim Mission, Abu-Bakr Osman, suggested that “there should be a separate act regulating the pilgrimage for Muslims and a second one regulating the pilgrimage for Christians” like in Nigeria.
The government was also urged by some of the stakeholders to support the already existing Islamic groupings, like the National Chief Imam’s office, to streamline the already existing processes of the Hajj pilgrimage.
Other skeptics believe the bill will only serve the interest of government instead of its intended purpose, pointing out that the monies that Muslims pay for their Hajj pilgrimage does not come back to the Muslim community and that the there is no accountability on the part of the government for the money used for the activities.
Deputy Communications Director of the National Hajj Committee, Alhaji Muhammad Amin Lamptey, acknowledged the concerns of stakeholders but pointed out that the government played an instrumental role in their affairs.
“I think that we cannot do without government,” he stated. “If you go back to Hajj, you cannot deal with individual Ghanaians without consulting the Ghanaian consulate of the Ghanaian Mission in Saudi Arabia so definitely you need the government.”
The Local Government Minster, Collins Dauda, urged patience and said the government needs ample time to prepare and take into consideration the inputs of the bill before it is laid before Parliament.
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By Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana