Freetown, Saturday 3 August 2019 – His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio and Vice President Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh have bid farewell to about 900 Sierra Leoneans performing this year’s Islamic pilgrimage to the Holy City of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
While addressing the prospective pilgrims at the Siaka Stevens Stadium, the President congratulated them for having successfully gone through the process of registration and said he was delighted to bid them farewell on behalf of the government and people of Sierra Leone.
He encouraged them to be good ambassadors of Sierra Leone in the Holy City of Mecca and be prepared for the challenges ahead of them. He also admonished them to follow instructions of the authorities accompanying them to be able to perform the Hajj pilgrimage successfully.
President Bio reminded the prospects of the chaos and scandal that characterised the preparation for the Islamic pilgrimage but recalled that since his government last year sanity had returned to the organisation of the pilgrimage.
He called on them to pray for the country and pray with him at State House on their return from Hajj, a central pillar of the Islamic faith that is meant to cleanse followers of their sins and bring them closer to God.
President Bio concluded his farewell message by thanking his Vice President, Dr Juldeh Jalloh, for his leadership on the Hajj preparation, the Minister and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs and members of the Hajj Committee for successful preparation.
The first batch of the pilgrims will depart Lungi International Airport on Sunday 4 August and the second batch departs on Monday 5 August. The prospective pilgrims are expected to arrive at the Jeddah International Airport from where they would be transported to the Holy City of Mecca.
Hajj 2019 will commence on Friday 9 August 2019 and will continue till Wednesday 14 August 2019 in the evening time. The Sierra Leonean pilgrims will return first week September 2019.
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