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Ugandan Muslims Rule Out Appealing In
Mufti Mubajje Case: Two Muftis Are
Disaster |
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November 24, 2008 Muslims
opposed to Mufti Shaban Mubajje have vowed not
to hold talks with the President over the
matter.
The group also said it
would not take their case to the Court of
Appeal. "We shall not appeal because all
courts are under the armpits of the
Government," Sheikh Nuhu Muzaata, the leader
of the group, said on Friday after Friday
prayers at the Masjid Noor Mosque in Kampala.
Muzaata's reaction
follows the acquittal of Mubajje, Idris
Kasenene, the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council
secretary general and Hassan Basajjabalaba,
the vice-chairman, of fraudulently selling the
council's property.
The group prayed for
catastrophe to befall lawyer Muzamiru Kibedi,
who defended the trio in court.
"We are cursing Kibedi
and his family because he is a traitor. He
knows that Mubajje sold our property but he
went ahead to defend him," Muzaata said.
He called for solidarity
among Muslims, saying it was the beginning of
the struggle to reclaim their property.
"We shall demand all our
property that was taken. Kololo High School is
Muslim property. The ministry of Education
should return it to the person who sold it to
them," Muzaata demanded.
Two Muftis Are Disaster
Last week Buganda Road
Court acquitted Mufti Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan
Mubajje and two other Muslim leaders over the
fraudulent sale of Muslim property.
The anti-Mubajje faction
has vowed to appoint its own Mufti, a move
that could weaken Islam in Uganda.
A section of Muslims led
by Sheikh Nuuhu Muzaata Batte, dragged Mubajje
along with the former Uganda Muslim Supreme
Council (UMSC) Secretary General, Dr. Edrisa
Serugo Kaseenene, and vice-chairperson Hajji
Hassan Basajjabalaba to court over allegations
that they had sold Muslim property.
The acquittal of the
three has angered their accusers, threatening
to reignite old rivalries among Ugandan
Muslims.
As Mubajje's supporters
are jubilating, Muzaata's group is seeking to
oust him. They have already started the search
for his replacement. In a reaction, the Muslim
council spokesman Hajji Nsereko Mutumba said
the organisation was not bothered by their
plan, provided they did not appoint a Mufti
from mosques registered under the council.
If the anti-Mubajje
faction succeeds in appointing their leader,
it will not be the first time for Uganda to
have two Muftis.
Between 1980 and 1986,
the late Sheikh Kassim Mulumba and Sheikh
Abdul Obeid Kamulegeya carried the same title
and jostled for leadership, splitting Muslims
into two camps. The dissension recurred in
1987 to the late 1990s when the late Sheikh
Saad Ibrahim Luwemba and Sheikh Hussein Rajab
Kakooza and later Sheikh Ahmad Mukasa were
considered as Muftis.
Their rivalry reached a
climax during Uganda's 31st Independence
anniversary celebrations at Kololo Airstrip
when Luwemba and Mukasa struggled for a
microphone to lead prayers on behalf of the
Muslim community. This became a public
statement for the struggle to claim legitimacy
in a divided faith.
The following year,
Luwemba's supporters ambushed Mukasa and beat
him up. They also confiscated his official
flag, hoping to remove any authority he was
holding as a Mufti. He was admitted in Kibuli
Muslim Hospital just next to the mosque where
the anti-Mubajje group is drawing plans to get
their Mufti. |
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