Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio has on Friday 12 July 2024 receives Hajj pilgrims, and observes first Juma prayers with them at State House.
Chief Imam Shiek Kutubu Konneh, in his sermon for the day, called on all pilgrims to be agents of peace and ambassadors of nation building by practicing the good deeds they have experienced from the holy land of Mecca.
He also encouraged them to support the government’s agenda of “feed Salone”, adding that that would be very beneficial for the country and would ensure food sufficiency.
Head of the Hajj Presidential taskforce, Alhaji Murtada Sesay, expressed gratitude to His Excellency the President for his support, adding that his government had been very supportive in ensuring that the pilgrims had a very successful pilgrimage.
He went on to thank other government institutions like the Ministry of Finance, Immigration Department, the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank and the Airport Authority for helping throughout the process.
He reported that out of 640 pilgrims who went to the holy land of Mecca, the delegation registered only one death, which unfortunately reduced the number of returnees to 639.
In his brief address to the pilgrims, President Julius Maada Bio, expressed gratitude to the task force in charge of the pilgrimage for putting everything in place to ensure a successful Hajj.
He went on to use the occasion to admonish the pilgrims to be agents of peace in their different localities, adding that the new law prohibiting child marriage was already being implemented and urged them join in to popularise the law.
“I want to encourage you all to continue to pray for Sierra Leone and its leaders for Allah to continue to keep us in peace,” he concluded.
