The cost of the Hajj pilgrimage will be significantly lower this year than it was last year, according to the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Somalia.
Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre announced that this year’s fees would be $4,484, a drop from the $5,500 to $6,000 that Somalis paid in previous years.
The high cost in previous years has been a hindrance for those who wished to perform Hajj and worship God.
Hajj is the annual pilgrimage to Mecca that all able Muslims are expected to complete at least once in their lives.
Around two million Muslims every year complete the pilgrimage, which is a five-day event taking place in the last month of the Islamic calendar.
Hajj is one of the Five Pillars of Islam and is a sacred event in Islam.
The Ministry of Religion and Endowments enunciated that tough measures will be taken against hajj rendering companies surcharging Somali pilgrims this year .
Only 75 out of 356 companies that competed to provide Hajj services won, according to the committee in charge of the competition.
After battling it out with ten other airlines, Daallo Airlines was awarded the job of transporting the pilgrims.
Earlier on ,Sheikh Abdulkadir Soomoow, the spokesman for Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a decried of foul play in the bidding process.
The group accused the Ministry of Religion affairs for mismanaging the competition for Hajj administration this year.
Prime Minister Barre did, however, reassure the populace that his administration would transparently oversee and manage the businesses providing Hajj services.
