The former Hajj Board has responded to claims by the leader of the 2025 Hajj Task Force, Collins Dauda, regarding outstanding debts from previous Hajj operations.

In a statement signed by former Hajj Board Chairman Ben Abdallah Banda, the Board expressed concern over what it described as an incomplete narrative of the debts inherited by successive administrations.

According to the former Board, when the Nana Akufo-Addo administration assumed office in 2017, it inherited a $7.8 million debt from the previous Hajj managers under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.

This amount included payments from 425 fully paid prospective pilgrims who were unable to participate in the 2016 Hajj pilgrimage, requiring either a refund or rebooking.

The Board credited former President Akufo-Addo and then Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for ensuring that these stranded pilgrims were eventually airlifted.

The statement further clarified that by the end of the Board’s tenure in 2024, the outstanding debt stood at $4,859,250, as documented in the official handing-over notes submitted to the Chief of Staff.

“It is unfair and unfortunate to reference the current legacy debt without acknowledging the debt we inherited in 2017,” the statement read, emphasizing that governance is a continuum involving both assets and liabilities.

The former Board attributed the accumulation of debt in Hajj operations to foreign exchange fluctuations and urged the current Task Force to present a comprehensive historical account of the legacy debt to avoid misleading the Muslim community.

Despite the disagreement over the debt narrative, the former Hajj Board extended its best wishes to the new Hajj Task Force, expressing hope for a successful organization of this year’s Hajj pilgrimage.