Muslim elders seek out-of-court settlement

Saturday, November 1, 2008 (Mirror - Page 27)

SOME Muslim elders have approached the legal counsel for the National Hajj Council (NHC) which has sued over the right to operate the Hajj in Ghana, for an out-of-court settlement.
The NHC filed a writ at the Accra Fast Track High Court seeking an order of perpetual injunction to restrain the offices of the Vice-President and the National Chief Imam from interfering in the operations of the Hajj in Ghana.
It is also seeking an order requesting both offices and the defendants to hand over all arrangements made for the 2008 Hajj to the NHC.
Counsel for the NHC, Mr Bright Akwetey, informed the Accra Fast Track High Court at its sitting in Accra last Monday that he was approached by some elders of the Muslim community to have the matter settled out of court.
He said if nothing was done to send Ghanaians to the Hajj pilgrimage this year, the country would be banned for five years.
A Muslim elder, Alhaji Asuma Banda, informed the court that he was not asked by any of the factions to withdraw the case out of court for settlement.
He said he had intervened because he was a Muslim elder and further stated that the matter was a delicate one and as a result “I am relinquishing my own business to ensure the matter is settled.”
Alhaji Banda, therefore, called on Muslims to pray for the matter to be settled.
Counsel for the defendants, Alhaji Ishaq Alhassan, told the court that his clients would co-operate for the matter to be settled.
The court after listening to parties in the matter accordingly adjourned the matter to November 3, 2008 to enable the parties to settle their differences.
Among the reliefs being sought by the NHC is an order of perpetual injunction to restrain the Office of the National Chief Imam and the defendants from interfering in the activities of the NHC.
In a statement of claim the NHC is also seeking a declaration by the court that it is the sole and legitimate body charged with the responsibility to organise the Hajj in Ghana by the Muslim community.
The other defendants in the case are Alhaji Lumuna Mohammed Muniru of the Ministry of Health; Dr Alhaji Abdul-Wahab Alhassan of the Office of the Vice-President; Sheik Yunus Osman Mohammed of the Pathology Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and Alhaji Osman Kadri English of the Office of the Chief Imam.
The writ, filed on October 2, 2008, is further seeking a declaration that the Interim Hajj Management Committee (IHMC) did not have the mandate of the Muslim community in Ghana to organise Hajj operations.
It is also asking for an order requesting the Office of the Vice-President to unblock access of the NHC to diplomatic facilities for the Hajj of 2008.
Among the reliefs is an order requesting the Office of the Vice-President to desist from interfering in the work of the NHC regarding Hajj operations and an order requesting that office to refund, in full, the air fares paid and other expenses made by the 728 pilgrims who were not airlifted to Mecca for the 2007 Hajj, plus interest on their air fares at the prevailing bank rate.
The plaintiff is also seeking a declaration that the Office of the National Chief Imam is not vested with any authority to organise the Hajj for Muslims in Ghana, an order requesting the defendants to stop operating bank accounts in the name of the NHC and an order restraining the defendants from making any public statements or statements in private for the mobilisation of funds for the 2008 Hajj, as well as an order to restrain the defendants from executing any contracts with anybody or bodies in relation to Hajj operations in Ghana.