Clash of egos as Muslim leaders fight for control of Mufti Menk’s tour
For hours on Friday, March 8, a large crowd endured a heavy downpour as they waited patiently for the arrival of one of Africa’s most prominent scholars and preachers, Mufti Ismail Musa Menk.
The Zimbabwean scholar had been scheduled to lead the Jumah prayers but did not show up till late in the evening. This entire time, he remained holed up in his hotel room at the Serena Kampala Hotel, as organisers got trapped in an egoistic fight between two rival Muslim leaderships.
On his itinerary, Menk had to pay a brief courtesy call to the Mufti of Uganda, Sheikh Shaban Ramathan Mubaje and then head to Kibuli hill for a private visit to the residence of Prince Kassim Nakibinge Kakungulu and later have an audience with the Supreme Mufti, Sheikh Muhammad Shaban Galabuzi.
To commemorate the International Women’s Day, Menk had been scheduled to visit and address Nabisunsa Girls School – Uganda’s leading Muslim girls secondary school.
According to insider sources, the leadership at Old Kampala protested claiming that the program was giving their Kibuli rivals an upper hand.
“Initially, Old Kampala was not part of the program. It was added much later after Sheikh Mubaje complained,” a source among the organisers said.
Including a courtesy visit to Mufti Mubaje’s office also did not convince the Mubaje team which demanded more visibility since they are the official occupants of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) headquarters.
Since most of the organisers inclined toward Kibuli, UMSC was bound to fail in this demand. By 10:00 am on Friday, the program for a visit to the UMSC headquarters had been struck off because, according to a source, “Mufti Menk himself said that in his previous visits, he visited and led Jumah prayers at Old Kampala.”
UNWELL
At about 10:30 am, the motorcade was ready to depart for Kibuli but Menk remained in his hotel room speaking on the phone. Moments later, he informed his hosts that he was “not feeling well and needed some rest.”
“Apparently, somebody at Old Kampala threatened him that they were going to raise a red flag with the government for his programs to be cancelled,” a source said.
Organisers were forced into another round of talks and reassurances to the visiting preacher to go on with the scheduled program. He eventually agreed to appear at only the main events at Makerere and the corporate dinner at Serena hotel’s Victoria hall.
In his speech at Makerere, he could not hide his disgust. “What is the importance of having this Mufti, another Mufti, this council, that council and another council there? They are all part of this same Ummah. Watch your mouth when talking about one another, you can disagree but with respect,” Menk said.
Galabuzi and Mubaje didn’t show up at any of the events but Mubaje’s newest rival, Sheikh Abdallah Ssemambo occupied a VIP seat at the Serena event much as the organisers were shy to call him Mufti.
