UMSC, UBHA trade blame over missed Hajj visas
By Yunous Ntale
Fresh questions have emerged over the failure of 48 pilgrims sponsored by President Yoweri Museveni to obtain visas for this year’s Hajj, the annual Islamic holy pilgrimage to Makkah.
During his Eid al-Adhuha speech at the Gaddafi national mosque, Old Kampala, the Mufti, Sheikh Shaban Ramathan Mubajje, expressed dissatisfaction that only 17 visas had been secured for pilgrims sponsored by the President under the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) instead of the anticipated 65.
The Mufti seemed to accuse the Uganda Bureau of Hajj Affairs (UBHA) for the mishap, while also suggesting that some officials at State House may have contributed to the failure.
President Museveni sponsored 150 pilgrims for this year’s Hajj. Of these, UMSC was allocated 65 beneficiaries, Tawakkal Travels was tasked with handling 32 pilgrims who missed last year’s pilgrimage, while Anwaary Travels took responsibility for 53 beneficiaries, mainly those said to be uncomfortable with the current UMSC leadership.
Whereas pilgrims under Tawakkal Travels and Anwaary Travels secured their visas and received the necessary facilitation from State House in time, their counterparts under UMSC remained uncertain about their travel arrangements until the final stages of the Hajj preparations.
To clear itself of any blame, UBHA shared with this publication a letter dated January 22 that was circulated to all Hajj service companies outlining the guidelines for the processing and issuance of Hajj visas.
The letter, which was copied to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UMSC, and the Office of the Supreme Mufti, asked Hajj operators to submit separately the passports of pilgrims sponsored by President Yoweri Museveni and those travelling under private arrangements.
According to the UBHA secretary-general, Sheikh Hussein Twaib Bogere, UMSC allegedly failed to categorise and classify its pilgrims’ passports in accordance with the bureau’s guidelines.
UMSC and its affiliate Hajj operators secured visas for 250 of the 343 pilgrims they had registered, following a last-minute intervention by UBHA after months of uncertainty and administrative wrangles.
The groups had earlier withdrawn their payments from the bureau amid an unsuccessful attempt by the Mufti to remove UBHA from its longstanding role of coordinating Uganda’s Hajj operations.
UBHA chairperson, Sheikh Zakaliya Kyewalyanga, wondered why UMSC failed to prioritise the 65 presidential pilgrims within the quota it had been allocated.
“The question is whether the 65 pilgrims sponsored by the President could not fit within the 250 slots allocated to UMSC,” Kyewalyanga said.
In our earlier reporting on the matter, sources within State House cited UMSC’s failure to secure visas for the 65 beneficiaries as the reason they missed out on the presidential sponsorship funds. Possession of a valid Hajj visa was one of the key conditions for the release of the funding.
According to the sources, Anwaary Travels and Tawakkal Travels submitted the required documentation as early as March and received payment promptly, while UMSC remained embroiled in efforts to wrest control of Hajj coordination from UBHA.
For Kyewalyanga, the circumstances surrounding the omission of the 48 pilgrims raise questions that warrant further scrutiny.He maintained that UBHA fulfilled its mandate by securing 250 visas for UMSC despite challenges and tight timelines. He alleged that when UMSC became aware that only 250 visas were available, it chose to submit only 17 presidential pilgrims.
Kyewalyanga further faulted UMSC for surrendering part of its allocation of the 250 Hajj slots to Makkah-Madinah Hajj Services, thereby reducing its own share from 250 to 100 visas.
This became evident in Mina, where accommodation and space allocation records showed that Majlis Hajj and Umrah Tours and Travels, which operates under UMSC, had space allocated for 100 pilgrims, while Makkah-Madinah Hajj Services was allocated space for 150 pilgrims.
MAKKAH MEETING
Ahead of their journey from Madinah to Makkah for the Hajj rituals, the 17 State House-sponsored pilgrims under UMSC raised concerns about their welfare after failing to receive the $500 stipend that President Museveni had allocated to each beneficiary.
Sheikh Ali Juma Shiwuyo, the UMSC secretary of Hajj and Umrah at UMSC, informed the group that the upkeep allowances had not been released to him and attributed the delay to bureaucratic processes at State House.
State House, however, denied any wrongdoing, instead blaming the delayed release of the allowances on UMSC’s late submission of the pilgrims’ required documentation.
Senior presidential advisor and assistant on political affairs, Moses Byaruhanga, gave assurances the pilgrims that the 17 beneficiaries would receive their allowances, while the 48 who missed this year’s Hajj would be considered for sponsorship next year.
Uganda’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Isaac Ssebulime, convened a meeting of Ugandan Hajj operators at the Nusuk Al Fadila Hotel in Makkah, where he questioned UBHA officials over allegations that the bureau had issued visas to non-Ugandans and overcharged pilgrims.
The ambassador also reportedly raised concerns that the Ugandan Embassy had not been adequately informed about pilgrims’ travel schedules.
Kyewalyanga dismissed the allegations as unsubstantiated and reiterated the bureau’s position that no evidence had been presented to support the claims. Regarding the pilgrims’ itinerary, he maintained that all relevant information had routinely been communicated through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In a subsequent address to Ugandan pilgrims in Mina, Ssebulime commended the improvements in Hajj management, particularly in accommodation and catering arrangements.
