Prez. Mahama pledges support for Muslim community with reduced Hajj fares, extra holidays and Hijab protection

President John Dramani Mahama has made a series of commitments aimed at supporting Ghana's Muslim community, including reduced Hajj fares, additional holidays and protection for Muslim women wearing the hijab. 

At the National Muslim Prayer and Thanksgiving service held at the National Mosque today in Accra, he reaffirmed his dedication to fulfilling promises made in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) manifesto.

The promises stem from a proposal made by the National Chief Imam and other Muslim leaders during the election campaign. "My father, the National Chief Imam, led the Muslim group to present to me the Muslim manifesto for inclusion in our NDC manifesto," President Mahama said. "As you've heard, 12 of the 14 points that were presented to us were captured in our manifesto."

Among the key pledges, the President outlined plans to reduce Hajj fares significantly, making the pilgrimage more accessible to the Muslim community. He revealed the formation of a five-member Hajj task force, headed by the longest-serving MP, Collins Dauda, which will travel to the Holy Land to participate in the Hajj Conference and explore ways to lower the costs.

"We will reduce Hajj fares drastically," President Mahama confirmed. "One of the tasks that I have given them is to go and make arrangements so that we can bring the Hajj fares as low as possible so that as many Muslims who intend to perform the pilgrimage can do so."

In addition, Mahama promised to grant an extra holiday for Eid-ul-Fitr, saying, "We promised to add one more holiday to the Eid-ul-Fitr. So as soon as Parliament settles, we're going to amend the Holidays Act to include an extra holiday on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr." This year, the community will enjoy two holidays during the Sallah festivities.

The President also reaffirmed the government's commitment to defending the constitutional rights of Ghanaians to freely express their religion, which includes the right for Muslim women to wear the hijab in public. "We will protect the rights of Muslim women to wear their hijabs wherever," he added.

Other promises made by the NDC government included scholarships for students in deprived Muslim communities, particularly in fields such as medicine, law and ICT. President Mahama also pledged to increase the number of Arabic teachers and establish the Soiya Fund, a microcredit scheme to support families in underprivileged Muslim communities.

Finally, the President announced plans to introduce Islamic banking instruments in Ghana. "We also promised to introduce Islamic banking instruments in Ghana and so we will begin the discussion with the Bank of Ghana on how we introduce Islamic banking instruments into our banking and financial system," he said.