Sierra Leone Sends Highest Number of Pilgrims to Mecca

By Abubakarr Bah, Information Attaché, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Under the leadership of His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio Sierra Leone has recorded the highest number of pilgrims ever to perform Hajj in a single year just 2022 941 Muslims performed Hajj in the Holy Land of Makkah.

Records from the Ministry of Social Welfare (the Ministry which previously facilitated Hajj in Sierra Leone), show that during the reign of President Ernest Bai Koroma the highest number ever recorded was in 2014, when the country had 800, which was the highest number before now.

Did you also know that it was in 2022 that Sierra Leone Muslims got the highest number of scholarship quotas? In 2017, during the APC’s Koroma regime, the Hajj scholarships were marred by scandal, bribery and corruption to an extent that the Anti-Corruption Commission of Sierra Leone indicted some officials for engaging in illegal sale of scholarships.

In 2018, a total number of 840 Sierra Leoneans successfully went to Makkah for the Hajj. It was the first Hajj under the Bio administration, in which a total of 473 scholarships were awarded, of which 50 were granted by His Excellency the President, Dr. Julius Maada Bio, 25 by the Honourable Vice President, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh and 15 were awarded by First Lady, Her Excellency Fatima Bio.

The beneficiaries were selected from all regions of the country from all the ethnic groups of the Sierra Leone.

During the last Hajj also in 2022 (1443 Islamic calendar), His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio instructed his Vice President, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh as supervisor of the Ministry of Social Welfare to ensure that deserving pilgrims irrespective of gender, ethnicity, region, or political affiliations were selected for the two Hajj annual pilgrimages (in 2018, 2019 and 2022) respectively.

This was a clear manifestation of His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio’s radical inclusion policy of involving Muslims from across the country to fulfil the fifth pillar of Islam.

Despite the many challenges faced by countries around the world in that year’s Hajj, the government of His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio worked assiduously to ensure that Sierra Leone recorded the highest figure in decades for the country, which is predominantly Muslim.

After his overseas trip on June 30, 2022, His Excellency, President Dr. Julius Maada Bio spared his busy schedule by making a stopover to address the pilgrims in Lungi and bade them farewell.

The Vice President, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh virtually moved his office to the Lungi International Airport and he provided leadership in facilitating the departure of the first, second and third batches comprising of a total of 941 pilgrims, the highest the country has ever recorded.

The third and final batch of Sierra Leonean pilgrims, led by the Minister of Social Welfare, Baindu Dassama, landed in the Saudi City of Jeddah on Thursday, 7th July 2022 before the expiration of the extended deadline. The pilgrims successfully went through immigration checks and joined the first and second batches of pilgrims at Arafat immediately after performing Tawwaf around the Kaa’ba.

Between July 24 and July 26 2022, the first, second, and third batches of Sierra Leonean pilgrims arrived safely and were welcomed at the Lungi International Airport in Freetown by the Hon. Vice President, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh.

As he did in 2018 and 2019, the President, H.E Dr. Julius Maada Bio organised a reception ceremony for the pilgrims at State House in Freetown on Thursday, 28th July 2022.