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Where’s all this noise about the Hajj Village coming from? And who exactly started this misinformed debate?
Let’s set the record straight: The Hajj Village was never a divine promise like the National Cathedral. It was a practical, short-term solution introduced by the NDC government to serve as a holding place for pilgrims at the airport. It wasn’t a religious pledge; it was a service necessity to ensure that those travelling for Hajj had a dignified waiting area before departure.
So why, after years in power, did the NPP fail to improve the temporary tents put up by their predecessors? Instead of fixing the situation, they ignored it, leaving thousands of pilgrims to endure unbearable conditions at the mercy of the weather.
IT’S THE AIRPORT COMPANY’S DUTY, NOT A FAVOUR!
Unlike the National Cathedral, which was forced on taxpayers without their consent, the Hajj Village is directly tied to airport operations. It is the Ghana Airport Company’s responsibility to provide a decent, functional, and humane space for travellers using the facility. It is not charity; it is their obligation.
Let’s talk numbers: pilgrims are charged a whopping GH₵62,000 per head. Multiply that by the thousands who embark on Hajj annually, and ask yourself: Where does all that money go? If the government is making so much from Hajj operations, why are pilgrims still being treated like refugees in tents?
Now, tell me:
• Which international airport holds passengers in makeshift tents?
• Did you see travellers crammed into temporary shelters at Ethiopia’s Bole International Airport? No! They have proper holding facilities and even a hotel for transit passengers.
• Can the same be said for Kotoka International Airport? Absolutely not!
SPARE US THE “WASTAGE” NONSENSE!
Let’s kill this flawed argument about wastage. How is it a waste for a profit-making organisation like the Ghana Airport Company to upgrade a temporary tent into a proper structure? If a makeshift tent was acceptable, then why is it suddenly a problem to build something permanent and befitting?
Pilgrims deserve better. They pay for the service. The government profits from them. The Ghana Airport Company has the means to provide a proper facility, just as they would for any other international traveller.
If you kept quiet when the initial tents were built, then spare us the noise now that a concrete structure is being put in place. It’s not about religion—it’s about basic human dignity and providing the right services for paying travellers.
So, let’s stop the false equivalence between the Hajj Village and the National Cathedral. One is a functional necessity for an airport’s operation and the other? Well, we all know how that story is going.
By Charles McCarthy
