UMEA sued over Kawempe Muslim SS ownership
By Abdul Wahid Kakande
A long-running dispute over the ownership of Kawempe Muslim Secondary School has taken a fresh turn after the registered trustees of the Juma and Zukuuli Muslim group sued the Uganda Muslim Education Association (UMEA), the Attorney-general and the school’s Board of governors, seeking court orders to place the school under the direct control of the Juma and Zukuuli Muslim group.
The trustees are Sheikh Hussein Rajab Kakooza, Sheikh Mahad Kabuye Kawoya, Sheikh Sufian Khalid Muguluma, Sheikh Umaru Muusa Ssebumba, Hajji Ali Mpungu Kakomo, Hajji Ismail Nsubuga Nsambu, Abdul-Aziz Lukwago, Ismael Kikabi, Hamadi Muyomba, Hajji Muzafalu Kasule Takuba and Sheikh Muhammad Ali Lubega.
In the suit filed before the civil division of the High Court in Kampala on June 29, the group seeks, among other reliefs, a declaration recognising the Juma and Zukuuli Muslim group as the lawful founding body of Kawempe Muslim Secondary School.
According to the court documents, members of the Juma and Zukuuli Muslim group resolved on March 25, 1984, to establish the school and donated the five-acre piece of land on which it stands.
The trustees argue that because the group provided the land and initiated the establishment of the school, it is the rightful founding body, not UMEA.
They further contend that UMEA, which was incorporated as a company in 1995, cannot legally claim to be the school’s founding body because it was formally incorporated 11 years after the school was established.
Founded in 1936 by the late Prince Badru Kakungulu and other Muslim leaders to promote Muslim education, UMEA was later incorporated as a company in 1995. The association has since established and continues to manage several Muslim-founded schools such as Kibuli Secondary School, Nabisunsa Girls’ School and Kawempe Muslim Secondary School, Gombe Secondary School among others.
Prince Kassim Nakibinge Kakungulu is the patron of UMEA.
In the suit, the trustees are seeking a permanent injunction restraining UMEA from presenting itself as the founding body of Kawempe Muslim Secondary School.
They are also asking court to declare the appointment of the current board of governors irregular, unlawful, null and void, arguing that the alleged founding body was never involved in the appointment process.
The trustees further seek orders setting aside the current board and directives for the appointment of what they describe as a lawful new board of governors.
They also accuse the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Education and Sports, Dr Kedrace Turyagyenda, of failing to rectify what they describe as an irregularity regarding the school’s governance.
Efforts to obtain a comment from UMEA were unsuccessful by press time. However, the High Court has directed UMEA, the Attorney-general and the school’s Board of governors of to file their respective defences.
The ownership dispute comes against the backdrop of a long-running leadership wrangle within the Juma and Zukuuli Muslim group following the controversial removal of Sheikh Muhammad Lunanoba as President-general.
The divisions have been further complicated by religious affiliations, with some members aligned to the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC), while others, including Lunanoba, pledge allegiance to the Office of the Supreme Mufti at Kibuli.
