Tamale, Oct. 4, GNA - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday kick-started this year's Hajj processing with the registration of people for the issuance of the bio-metric passport for the annual pilgrimage. The exercise, which takes two days, would register people from the Northern and Upper East Regions and proceed to Wa to register pilgrims in the Upper West Region on Wednesday.

An official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who pleaded anonymity disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency in Tamale on Monday. He said pilgrims from the Ashanti Region would be registered after the three northern regions have been tackled. Meanwhile, a lot of people were seen going through the registration formalities smoothly with the taking of their bio-data, pictures and finger-prints among others.

Alhaji Yakubu Ayana, Chief Executive Officer of Ayana Hajj Travel and Tours, said his agency had about 430 members in the Northern Region most of who had gone through the process smoothly and awaiting their passports.

He said the journey to Mecca would be on the 25th October by which time everybody might have acquired the passport. Alhaji Ayana adding that the pilgrims from the three Northern Regions would be airlifted to Accra and then proceed to Mecca. said each member of this year's Hajj is paying GH¢4,500 for the journey. He also appealed to the government to upgrade the Tamale Airport to international status for future pilgrims to be airlifted from Tamale to Mecca saying that the three regions of the north constitutes 50 percent of the hajj travellers. 4 Oct. 10