| Preceding6: | --> |
| Superseding6: | --> |
| Minister8 Name: | --> |
| Deputyminister8 Name: | --> |
| Chief9 Name: | --> |
| Parent Agency: | Pilgrims Affairs Office of Ghana |
| Child25 Agency: | --> |
| Keydocument6: | --> |
National Hajj Council (also National Hajj Committee or Ghana Hajj Secretariat or Ghana Hajj Board) is a division under the Pilgrims Affairs Office of Ghana's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was set up to oversee the annual airlifting of Ghanaian Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.[1] [2]
The cost of Hajj per head experience frequent fluctuations, falling in some years and rising in others mainly due to the instability of the Ghanaian cedi. When pegged against the US dollar however the unit cost kept changing depending on other factors like exchange rate, flight ticket among others
| Year | Cost | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| (US dollar) | (Ghanaian cedi) | ||
| 2023[3] | 6,500 | 75,000 | |
| 2022[4] | 5,000 | 39,000 | |
| 2021[5] | Cancelled due to Covid-19 | Cancelled due to Covid-19[6] | |
| 2020[7] | Cancelled due to Covid-19 | Cancelled due to Covid-19[8] | |
| 2019[9] | 3,750 | 19,500 | |
| 2018[10] | 3,450 | 15,000 | |
| 2017[11] | 3,450 | 15,000 | |
| 2016[12] | 3,500 | 11, 900 | |
| 2015[13] | 3,450 | 11,900 | |
| 2014[14] | 3,450 | 12,000 | |
| 2013[15] | 3,450 | 6,800 | |
Leadership of the National Hajj Council is appointed by President of Ghana in consultation with the Chief Imam of Ghana.[16] Over the years different government administrations have reorganized leadership structure of the Hajj facilitation body under various names.
Akuffo-Addo government in 2017 reconstituted the erstwhile Hajj Committee into three major units supervised by an eleven-member board. The three units are Medical, Communications and an Information Technology directorate; the latter tasked with the responsibility to build and deploy a technology infrastructure to manage all Hajj operations.
| Office(s) | Officeholder | Term start | Term end |
|---|---|---|---|
| Board Chairman | Ben Abdallah Banda[17] | February 2023 | |
| Board Chairman | Ibrahim Cudjoe Quaye[18] | February 2017 | January 2023 |
| Board Chairman | Abdul Rauf Ibrahim Tanko[19] | January 2013 | January 2016 |
| Board Chairman | Alhassan Bene[20] | 2009 | 2012 |
1. The following persons support leadership of the 2017 Hajj team: Sadique (PhD) - adviser to board chairman, and Gariba Malik - Passport issues.