I’m going nowhere; Sheikh Sulait Ssentongo speaks out

by Hashim Kalungi

Sheikh Sulait Ssentongo has dismissed as baseless reports of his desire to retire as the Supreme Kadhi for Masaka.

He spoke to The Friday Call and indicated that he has no plans to stand down until he serves out his term.

For about two weeks, anxiety has been high at Masaka Main Masjid, with word in the corridors indicating that Sheikh Ssentongo had chosen to go into early retirement due to health reasons.

“After the Friday prayers, I received several people in my office, inquiring about reports of my resignation, and I asked them how I would still be in the office if I had resigned,” Sheikh Ssentongo said.

“The Muslim community should stay calm; this information is not true, it is baseless,” he added.

Insider sources within the Kibuli-allied Masaka Muslim district leadership told this website that Sheikh Ssentongo had indeed asked to retire barely a year and a half after he formally took over the mantle following the death of Sheikh Swaib Ndugga.

While his deputies, Sheikhs Isa Mbaziira and Ahmed Hamid Mugera, were, according to inside sources at Masaka Main Masjid, seen as possible candidates to replace Ssentongo, the equation changed with the July 2 defection of Sheikh Badru Wasajja Kiruuta – hitherto the Masaka district Kadhi under the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) leadership.

The Masaka Muslim district chairperson under the Office of the Supreme Mufti (Kibuli), Hajj Hamid Ssennoga Ndugga, said reports of Ssentongo’s purported resignation are being spread by self-seekers who deserve no attention.

“It is simply misinformation aimed at fueling disunity in the district,” Ndugga said, further urging Muslims in the district to rely on information released through formal channels.