The government has flagged off the first group of 250 Muslim pilgrims to Mecca at Entebbe airport.
This was during a ceremony held at Entebbe International Airport on Monday, June 19, 2023 and was presided over by the 3rd Deputy Prime Minister Rukia Nakadama.
The first flight for the first group will depart today aboard Uganda Airlines’ Airbus A330 and arrive in Jeddah, a key Saudi Arabian port city on the Red Sea and the gateway for pilgrimages to Mecca and Medina.
Hajji Suleiman Musana, the coordinator of all Muslim in Uganda and sits at the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, said the second group of 250 pilgrims will depart from Entebbe Airport on Tuesday, June 20th, 2023, and they are expected to return home on July 8, 2023.
“We urge the pilgrims to remain disciplined and keep the Uganda flag high. It’s an easy facilitation to make the flight easy for our pilgrims; some of them are old and face language barriers, but using Uganda Airlines, all the airline crew are Ugandans, and you can easily ask for whatever you want in any language,” said Nakadama.
She thanked the Ministry of Works and Transport for facilitating and offering the opportunity for the pilgrims.
Minister Gen. Wamala described this as an opportunity for the pilgrims to travel directly from Uganda to Saudi Arabia.
“When we land in Jeddah, we land with pride in being carried by Uganda Airlines,” said Wamala.
The hajj in Islam is the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, which every adult Muslim must make at least once in his or her lifetime. It is the fifth of the fundamental Muslim practices and institutions known as the five pillars of Islam.
