Inside the Mubaje – Saudi fallout

By Our reporter

For months, tensions have been simmering between Uganda’s Mufti, Sheikh Shaban Ramathan Mubaje, and the leadership of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Kampala.

Within the corridors, there was a rumor that the Saudis had declined to endorse Mubaje’s bid to extend his tenure as Mufti for at least five more years. These are issues that both the embassy and the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) have largely avoided discussing—at least publicly—until Monday, March 10, when Sheikh Mubaje spoke out against the Saudi ambassador, Mohammed Bin Khalil Faloudah.

Speaking to the media upon his return from Iran, Mubaje accused Faloudah of meddling in local Muslim affairs, stating that his remarks against the UMSC were inappropriate and divisive.

“I was shocked to read such remarks in the media. They were insensitive, uncalled for, and unbefitting of an envoy, particularly a representative of the Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia—the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques,” Mufti Mubaje said.

Mubaje had spent about a week in Tehran, Iran’s capital, where he was invited as a facilitator at the Holy Qur’an and international diplomacy conference, skipping the Muslim World League’s Building bridges between Islamic schools of thought conference held in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, on March 6-7.

According to insiders at Old Kampala, Mubaje had, for some time, avoided direct engagement with Iran due to its adherence to Shia Islam. However, growing tensions between him and the Saudis have compelled him to seek support from the Iranians.

GENESIS

Credible sources at both Old Kampala and the Saudi embassy trace the fallout back to Mubaje’s attempt to extend his tenure. Angered by the move, the Saudi embassy reportedly tried to dissuade him, but he remained unyielding.

Through prominent Sheikhs at Old Kampala—some of whom are members of Mubaje’s advisory committee—the embassy relayed its concerns to the leadership within UMSC structures.
What stings most for Mubaje is that his newest opposition comes from individuals he once considered close allies.

“One of them went as far as President Museveni’s desk, seeking help to remove Mubaje,” a source revealed.

This particular Sheikh has reportedly infiltrated Mubaje’s inner circle so deeply that he is believed to have stooges in most of the critical departments at Old Kampala.

NO VIP TREATMENT

Recently, Mubaje reportedly stormed out of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Kololo in protest against what he described as ill-treatment by embassy officials. He had arrived for a scheduled meeting with the ambassador but was taken aback when he was subjected to rigorous security checks, just like any other ordinary visitor.

To make matters worse, he was asked to surrender his mobile phones and was not allowed to drive into the embassy premises, instead being instructed to park outside.

His request for Ramadhan food packs, which were distributed through the Muslim World League (MWL) Uganda office, was also rejected. Instead, MWL chose to work directly with mosque imams and Muslim groups.

At the March 10 press conference, Mubaje said that the Saudi ambassador had overstepped diplomatic boundaries by interfering in Uganda’s internal Muslim affairs, despite the existence of a memorandum of cooperation between the UMSC and Saudi Arabia.

“It is absurd that the Saudi ambassador seems to have ventured into petty, divisive local Ugandan Muslim politics, yet he came when UMSC had already established a framework for collaboration,” he said.

The Saudi embassy was not readily available for comment by press time.