Mubaje Runs to Museveni as Feud with Basajjabala Goes to High Court
At the funeral of fallen Uganda’s High Commissioner to Kenya, Dr Hassan Wasswa Galiwango, the Mufti, Sheikh Shaban Ramathan Mbaje seized opportunity to call on President Yoweri Museveni to save him from what he termed as a group of “failed politicians and businessmen” who are sowing seeds of disharmony at Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) headquarters.
The Vice President, Jessica Alupo was Museveni’s ears at the funeral held at Nakaloke Sports Grounds in Mbale Northern City Division on Tuesday as Mubaje made the appeal with a scathing attack on the Mengo Chief Magistrate, Parick Talisuna Ngereza who issued an order injuncting the top UMSC leadership. “Those who failed in the elections are the ones trying to incite Muslims against UMSC and need to be stopped. They are trying even to manipulate the courts of law,” Mubaje said, adding that the action by the Mengo Chief Magistrate risked destabilising the Muslim community.
“Recently there was something that was going to cause havoc and destabilize the peace that we are enjoying today when one of the chief magistrates issued an order stopping all the activities of the council and against the Mufti of Uganda, stopping him not to do anything until the 27th of this month, which means we had to close the mosques, even this function (funeral) might be regarded illegal or in contempt of the court,” he said.
“We request that it is probed and establish how he came to stop the whole faith from functioning in the country. Muslims were calling me from different parts of the country inquiring whether Islam is closed in the country but I told them to hold on,” Sheikh Mubaje added.
Mubaje’s speech in Mbale came as Ngereza declined to vacate the order restraining Mubaje from exercising the duties of a Mufti and instead referred the matter to the High Court.
“Since you have failed to consent to the court order, I forward the file to the High Court for further directions as directed by the Principal Judge Dr Flavian Zeija,” Ngereza said. Sheikh Mubaje and the UMSC were represented in court by Musa Kabega while Swabur Marzuq sat in as Basajjabalaba’s attorney.
Basajjabalaba petitioned court in December last year after Mubaje blocked his bid for the chairmanship of the UMSC general assembly. The businessman’s attempt to block the December 3, 2022 election fell flat after Mubaje who presided over the polls indicated that he was not aware of a court order stopping the exercise. This, Basajjabalaba claims, disadvantaged him as a hopeful candidate, and thus filed a suit in the High Court on December 21, 2022, challenging the outcome of the elections.
The contested elections returned Dr Muhammad Lubega as the chairman of the UMSC general assembly. Basajjabalaba wants the court to nullify Lubega’s election on grounds that the Mufti undermined the UMSC constitution by usurping the powers of the Muslim body’s electoral commission, resulting in his unfair disqualification from the race.
Last Thursday, business at UMSC was paralysed when heavily armed police personnel deployed at the UMSC headquarters as court bailiffs moved to serve the leadership with the court order freezing their activities. Later, a group of the general assembly members led by former Bukoto South parliamentary candidate, Hajji Abdul Kiyimba, addressed the media and accused the leadership at Old Kampala of mismanagement.
Mubaje believes that the confusion at Old Kampala can end with Museveni’s intervention. “Your excellency we request that the president intervene and that all those who failed or have grievances use our own structures for redress,” he said during Galiwango’s funeral.
