Mubaje rallies Muslim leaders to embrace modern mobilisation strategies

By Ahmed Idriss and Issa Kigongo

Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan Mubaje, the Mufti of Uganda, has called on Muslim leaders across the country to adopt modern strategies of mobilising the faithful, including the use of social media, as part of efforts to strengthen the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) and enhance community development.

“You can also use social media to mobilise our people. We should embrace modernity as the UMSC,” the Mufti urged, while addressing District Kadhis, Regional Assistants, and senior officials from the Office of the Mufti during a quarterly leadership meeting held at the UMSC headquarters in Old Kampala on Wednesday, October 29, 2025.

Mubaje explained that the newly amended UMSC Constitution (2022) has provided the Muslim community with fresh roles and responsibilities that will enable them to be more organised, efficient, and self-reliant.

“With this new constitution, we are becoming more organised than ever before,” he said.

He urged Muslim leaders to ensure that all Muslim assets across the country are registered and accounted for.

“We must have those registers. We should know our property—schools, mosques, land, and others. Some unscrupulous individuals are using our property to fight us. So, we are soon instituting a legal team to deal with such people who want to grab our property,” he warned.

The Mufti also proposed that the UMSC conduct its own internal census to establish the actual number of Muslims in Uganda, arguing that such data would help in planning and claiming a fair share of national resources.

“We should plan to conduct our own census to know the number of Muslims in Uganda so that we can demand our share of the national cake,” he observed.

He commended President Yoweri Museveni for his continued support towards Islam in Uganda, particularly through financial assistance to Muslim leaders’ SACCOs aimed at improving the livelihoods of Imams and Sheikhs.

“These SACCOs are meant to support our Imams and Sheikhs to get start-up capital for their own businesses and uplift their livelihoods. We shall also have SACCOs for the ten Muslim regions and for District Kadhis, County Sheikhs, and Imams,” he noted.

Moses Byaruhanga, the Senior Presidential Advisor in charge of Political Mobilisation, who also serves as the Chief Agent for the NRM Presidential Flagbearer 2026–2031, reaffirmed government’s commitment to supporting religious leaders through financial empowerment initiatives.

“On top of the PDM, the President is going to inject funds in SACCOs for religious leaders of both Islam and Christianity so that they fight poverty. The Muslims here have already organized themselves from the smallest unit up to the headquarters. We are going to fund them like we have been doing to other SACCOs,” he said.

Byaruhanga further explained that President Museveni recognises that Sheikhs and Imams are not salaried workers and has therefore opted to support them through SACCOs and interest-free loans from the Microfinance Support Centre (MSC) and possibly from the Uganda Development Bank (UDB).

“We shall also talk about loans from UDB to see whether you can get them free of interest,” he assured.

Meanwhile, Haji Abbas Muluubya Ssekyanzi, who presented a report on the state of UMSC affairs, highlighted recent achievements such as the repossession and ongoing development of the Namugongo Muslim Martyrs Site.

He also urged Muslims to resolve disputes through the Muslim Arbitration and Reconciliation Council (MAC) rather than seeking court intervention.

“Before going to court, we encourage Muslims to first report their cases and disputes to the MAC. We are supposed to use our internal mechanisms to resolve our differences,” he said.

New districts to become operational

Haji Muluubya provided guidance on recently formed Muslim districts, confirming that Obongi, Bidibidi, Terego, Madi Okollo, and Zombo are cleared to begin operations immediately. He reiterated that the election of new District Khadhis for these areas should wait, in line with existing resolutions.

He further cautioned all District Khadhis to submit regular reports on their Imams to ensure the clerics can access benefits through the planned Imams SACCO. He also directed them to collaborate with the Directorate of Sharia on the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) process for registering marriages.