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Chairman of the Hajj Board, Sheikh I.C. Quaye says pilgrims should not be bothered about food as they will have the very best of Tuo Zaafi at this year’s Hajj.

Addressing the pilgrims, he assured them of “food which is tasteful to the mouth of Ghanaians” adding that “the one who is going to do the feeding is a Nigeria-based Saudi Arabian. He’s going to provide tuo zaafi…. Everything is well done, placed and supported by the government.”

This comes after a GNA report that there was some confusion at the Hajj Village in Accra on Saturday morning as prospective pilgrims travelling to Saudi Arabia demanded answers from the Hajj Board over delays in their flight.

The anxiety of prospective pilgrims continue to heighten as the airports in the two Holy Cities of Saudi Arabia, Makkah and Medina, are expected to be closed on Thursday, August 16, 2018, to any flight carrying prospective pilgrims from any part of the world.

The pilgrims, who were supposed to be airlifted that Saturday morning vented their frustrations on the Hajj Board with some accusing Board members of incompetence and lack of proper planning.

The situation has since not been solved, as the Board could not charter a bigger aircraft to airlift the pilgrims to embark on the pilgrimage.

Additionally, no information has been communicated to the prospective pilgrims, as they have remained in darkness for the past five days.

The Board, instead of contracting a bigger airplane which could fly about 506 passengers on a single manifest as done by the previous regime, opted for a 174-passenger aircraft for this year’s operations.

The Board also requested Saudi Authorities to reduce Ghana’s quota of 6,700 pilgrims to 5,500, which created a lot of tension within Hajj Agents and prospective pilgrims.

This has compelled some of the Agents travelling as far as to Nigeria to seek consideration from partner Agents for their passengers to embark on the Holy Journey.