How hundreds were fleeced in the name of Hajj
By Yunous Ntale
As approximately 1,349 Ugandans begin to depart for this year’s Hajj pilgrimage to Makkah, hundreds of others remain stranded without Hajj visas, having been defrauded by unscrupulous individuals operating Hajj and Umrah travel bureaus.
According to Sheikh Hussein Twaibu Mutyaba Bogere, Secretary General of the Uganda Bureau of Hajj Affairs (UBHA), most of the victims had registered with Hijri Ismael Travels Ltd, a Hajj and Umrah service provider based at Cornerstone Plaza in Mengo, Kampala.
The agency reportedly registered around 200 prospective pilgrims, each of whom paid between Shs 9 million and Shs 10 million—nearly half of this year’s official Hajj fare.
According to sources, the agency had advertised these subsidized rates with the hope of utilizing the 100 Hajj slots donated by President Museveni for Imams and Amirats (female religious leaders) in Kampala. However, the arrangement fell through following a dispute between the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) and the National Assembly of Imams and Duats of Uganda over the management of the President’s Hajj offer.
Though not widely recognized among established Hajj and Umrah service providers, Hijri Ismael Travels Ltd claims on its website to have three years of experience and to have facilitated more than 10,000 Muslims in making the pilgrimage to the holy land.
In addition to its Mengo office, the agency also operates branches in the eastern Uganda districts of Soroti and Kumi.
To investigate the scandal further, we contacted one of the telephone numbers listed on the agency’s website. However, an unidentified male official who answered the call declined to comment.
“There is nothing I can say about that at the moment, and I wouldn’t want to speak to someone I don’t know,” the official said before hanging up.
Expose the crooks
Mutyaba made the exposé on Friday, May 9, before a large gathering at Wandegeya Mosque near Kampala, during a ceremony where Prince Kassim Nakibinge Kakungulu officially flagged off the Ugandan pilgrims.
The first group departed for Saudi Arabia on May 19, and the last batch is expected to leave by May 29. This year’s Hajj rites are expected to begin on June 4, subject to the sighting of the Dhul Hijjah crescent moon.
Sheikh Hamid Nsubuga, the UBHA spokesman, used the occasion to caution the pilgrims against involvement in unholy practices such as theft.
“Last year, some pilgrims sneaked into other people’s rooms and stole their valuables. They were captured on CCTV, and upon reviewing the footage, we discovered they were Ugandans,” Sheikh Nsubuga said.
“That time, we shielded them from the Saudi authorities since their offence could have earned them up to five years in jail—or, in the worst-case scenario, amputation under Shari’a law,” he added.
However, Prince Nakibinge was not impressed by UBHA’s decision to shield the culprits and urged the agency to expose wrongdoers instead.
“Many of the challenges we face as the Muslim community in Uganda are caused by thieves among us. We must expose such individuals rather than protecting them from facing the law,” Nakibinge said.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Mufti, Sheikh Muhammad Shaban Galabuzi, called on the pilgrims to pray for the country—particularly as Uganda approaches the 2026 general elections.
