Somali gov’t reduces Hajj fees by 15% to tackle corruption and complaints

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: The federal government of Somalia in its bid to develop further and maintain its current momentum has responded to a complaint over the exploitation of Somali citizens attending Hajj in the past recent years. Pilgrimage is a mandatory obligation pursuant to the Islamic Sharia law for any Muslim able to complete at least once in their lifetime hence the importance of this new development.

In the past five years, ordinary Somalis and businessmen have had to pay the fee of $5,230 to complete the obligatory Hajj at least once in their lifetime with many complaining this fee is high.

Others have speculated to corruption at many levels of fee collection leads to overall discontent despite many going about their obligatory obligation given the lack of choices especially at the governmental level. However, on the 6^th of March 2023, a committee was set up for the very reason of responding to the complaints about the Hajj fees was created by the Minister of Religious Affairs, Mukhtar Robow. This committee was among other reasons created to reduce the fee of $5,230 for Hajj by liaising with Hajj service providers and 75 travel agencies geared towards Hajj services.

Moreover, among the objectives discussed at the committee, corruption was a key topic that was to be rooted out to halt the exploitation of Somali citizens bent on fulfilling their religious obligation. To this end, the prime minister’s office and the association of Hajj Companies visited Saudi Arabia on April 7 to collect necessary and relevant information pertaining to the completion of Hajj.

The bulk of the efforts above including ascertaining the exact fee of the fulfilment of Hajj along with the travel services led to the curbing of corruption at institutional levels. The result was an astounding win for all Somalis in the long term with the cost of Hajj reduced by about 15%, an amount of $746 making the new cost of Hajj in Somalia to be $4,484.