IPNEWS – Monrovia: A group under the banner Concerned Muslims of Liberia is demanding that monies obtained from some Liberian Muslims in the name of taking them to this year’s hajj be returned to them as soon as possible.
The group staged a peaceful protest on Wednesday, July 6, 2022, to send a “strong message” to the government and those responsible for Muslims leaving Liberia to go to this year’s hajj in Mecca.
Jallah M. Kamara, one of the spokesmen of the peaceful protest action on Wednesday, July 6, 2022, stated that they were not protesting but had gathered to send a strong message.
“We understood that there were two committees: the Losene F. Kamara Committee and the Varney Sirleaf Committee. We are very clear: we want a refund of our people’s money. We care less to know who plays politics or not; US$6500 is not a small amount of money. Our people are disappointed!” Kamara emphasized.
According to Kamara, some of those who had planned to go on this year’s pilgrimage had been living outside Monrovia for more than 20 years and had only returned to Monrovia to get on the hajj train; adding: “only to be disappointed!” He stressed that they were not going to be silent anymore.
Another of the protesters, Ansu F. Kromah called out Internal Affairs Minister Varney Sirleaf to give their money back.
“President Weah, you are our leader. Varney Sirleaf killed us alive. We are walking dead people. President Weah, Varney Sirleaf is not in your interest in the sense that we are approaching 2023. If you give us the cause, we will give you the worry. We need our money in 7 hours. If our money is not refunded, we will take the streets,” he stated.
He said they fear nothing and if it meant jailing them to spend their “Abraham Day” in jail, they are prepared. It’s not clear if they did anything to warrant them going to jail to spend their Eid celebration in prison. Abraham Day has now passed.
Speaking to this newspaper, Mike Khailelu Jabateh, the leader of the protester, said it was thievery on the part of those who had allegedly taken the monies of people and those people were not allowed to make the pilgrimage to Mecca for the hajj this year.
“My brother, you won’t believe it, when such big celebrations are coming for Muslims, rich Muslims in the Arab World will give tickets to governments of developing countries so that they can give the tickets to Muslims, free of charge, who may have the desire to travel for the celebration. But you know what our people can do? They will begin to sell the tickets to people who may want to go to Mecca for the hajj. Let’s assume from Liberia to Mecca is US$10,000 or whatever amount, what we hear is that people bought the tickets from the people for US$6500 just to honor the pilgrimage to Mecca for this year,” he averred. He even stated that some people even traveled from the US to Liberia just to go to Mecca for the Hajj and those people were disappointed and had to go back to their places in the US.
According to Mike, when misunderstandings erupted as it relates to who was coordinating the hajj travels from Liberia, President George Weah had ordered the flight that should have initially come to take the pilgrims to not come to again.
“It was former Deputy Police Inspector General Abraham Kromah, who himself a Muslim, had gone to see Minister [Nathaniel] McGill about this before a flight was allowed to come in yesterday, [Wednesday] and 117 persons departed by 11 pm for the hajj,” Jabateh disclosed.
He further said, which we are yet to verify, that over 100 pilgrims, having paid their monies, have been denied departing for the hajj. He vowed that they are not going to be silenced or rest until those people’s monies are refunded to them.
He then called on the President to fire Minister Sirleaf. “Varney came up with a fake committee. He and Losene Kamara put out an announcement on the radio that they had been appointed by the President but the President was not aware.
“Today our people are stranded because of the action of Varney Sirleaf.” Jabateh and others hoped that the President was listening to them.
It seems the Liberian pilgrims, who are on the hajj, had some good times as evidenced by the short, live video that was done by Abraham Kromah, who is one of those on the trip to Mecca. He had to cut his live video short as the Muslim call for prayer rang in the background.
All effort to get Mr. Losene Kamara to respond to these allegations proved futile even when contacts were made with people very close to him. Internal Affairs Minister Sirleaf has refuted any wrongdoings in a press conference he had on Wednesday, July 6, 2022.
