Opinion: Museveni, Mubaje have contributed immensely to the unity of Muslims in Uganda

Haji Nsereko Mutumba

Dear friends, today, in part 3 of the Landmark Islamic events in Uganda series, I bring you the translated speech of President Yoweri Museveni at the installation of Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan Mubaje as the newly elected mufti of Uganda on 6th January 2001 at the UMSC Headquarters Old Kampala Hill.

The speech was delivered as follows:

First let me congratulate the new UMSC leadership starting with Mufti. Congratulations upon being elected as leaders.

I also congratulate all of you Muslims because you have finally jumped the Orukyerabembe (Runyakore word for the high jump hurdle), after trying to jump over it and failed for many years.

You finally did it this time, after several attempts of Okusinga; a Runyakore word for making calculated steps backwards before jumping the hurdle; (Okusinziila in Luganda).

In this game, you are always given three chances. If you jump and knock the hurdle down, that is a lost chance. But you are lucky because you decided not to jump and waste your chances, until you were sure of jumping over the Orukyerabembe; this is a good word. Runyakore is a rich language.

Rukyerabembe is specific, it means hurdle. So I congratulate you for finally succeeding to jump over the hurdle.

Much as I was not in leadership, I know your issues right from NAAM and Muslim Community in the 1960s.

I was therefore surprised when sometime back; some people falsely accused me of disorganizing Muslims.

They reported me to the Arabs that, it is the NRM government that is behind the disunity among Muslims in Uganda.

They think that the Arabs can do anything to me. They cant.

The Arabs are our brothers but they are not the ones in charge here. They know it themselves. Uganda is an independent country with our own clans which include Mamba (Lung Fish), Entte (Cow), Endiga (Sheep) etc.

I was in S.6 when I had about NAAM; I was still a student at school. How then do I become the one who caused disunity among Muslims? The disunity started long ago.

Our retired Mufti spoke about factions or fragments. In Runyakore, we call them Engusyo (pieces of a broken pot). When a pot falls and breaks into pieces it is not easy to reconstruct it. A calabash can be repaired, but not a pot.

Good enough, unity among Muslims in Uganda had not broken beyond repair. As the Mufti said, the right time for unity had not come.

For us in the movement, as the Mufti said, we say that united we stand, divided we fall. We say unity is strength. It takes united teeth to bite a piece of meat.

But others say disunity is strength. That factionalism is a source of strength. That unity is not good. That is the issue I had with those people.

That is why for me I do not chase anyone from the Movement. They chase themselves. Even if they have issues that I am aware of, I do not chase them. As Sheikh Mukasa was saying, I do not want the Uganda pot to break into pieces because of me. It has been broken before, but by others, not me.

You know the people who left the movement. When they get tired and they return, I welcome them.

Therefore, as you know, for us in the Movement, we know the gospel of unity very well. It is our number one priority. We do not promote disunity. That is why our government is inclusive.

As you may be aware, during Amins regime, I fought him; he was a Muslim, but we fought him for his bad actions. But surprisingly, whenever I returned here from Tanzania to rebel against Amin, I was protected by Muslims most of the times here in Kampala.

One of those Muslims is now my RDC Kalangala District Shk. Zubair Bakari, Abbas Kibazo; I used to be with those ones. I even used to wear those Muslim caps. We were aware that Amin was acting on his own, not on behalf of Muslims.

Therefore, we know the gospel of unity very well.

I am therefore glad that you have all embraced the gospel of unity through the elections that were recently concluded.

Solving problems needs patience; some people wanted us to forcefully unite Muslims.

I did not accept that line. It is not possible to force someone. Explain to them and they see the truth by themselves. I think this is because of my background, because where I come from, milk is very common.

If you want to make omuzigo (a food spice), you get milk and keep it for a specific period of time, after which you make the spice. If you tamper with the milk when it is still in its fresh form, it goes bad and you don't get what you want.

Therefore, the issues of Muslims will all be resolved at the right time. Forcing them before the right time will not bring the desired results.

Our policy is that we do not interfere in religious issues, because religions have their leaders who know it better than us. There were wrangles in the Church of Uganda in Busoga diocese between Bishop Bamwoze and those opposed to him, but we refused to interfere in those matters; we only played an advisory role, even in Kabale, we refused to interfere.

The same applies to Muslim issues. Our role has been one, advising. Saying why can’t you do like this. When they refuse, we leave them. You can not blame someone for advising you.

I want you Muslim leaders, much as it is not your duty to run government, we welcome your genuine and well intended advice. The best way is to sit down with the person and talk, not standing on the pulpit and start shouting and abusing.

If you do that, I also get agitated and fight back. I ask, who is that one? I understand that issues more. It becomes a battle of who knows better, me or them?

Our relationship should be based on mutual respect, not confrontation.

Now that you are united, it will be easy for the government and the movement government to support you.

Previously, we were hesitant to help because if you tried to help, the other group would say that one is for Mufti Luwemba, that one went to Kibuli.

Because of the many wars we have, sometimes we are hesitant to open new fronts. But now if we support Mufti Mubaje at UMSC, we will have helped all of you.

In Runyakore, they say wabona obukwatiro meaning now there is a handle.

A kettle with no handle is not easy to carry. Previously, the Muslim kettle did not have a handle, but now with this unity, Muslims have got a handle. What is that handle? it is UMSC. It is now easy. Once you hold the handle, you carry the whole kettle.

Therefore, as the President, I am going to officially write a letter to my friends (all OIC member countries), informing them that the Muslims in Uganda have united so help them.

I will meet some of them and tell them directly. I know many. Muammar Gaddafi, the Amiir of Kuwait. I do not know the Saudi Arabia leadership well, but when I wrote to the King, he responded and send $5 million for IUIU, courtesy of King Fahad Plazza. I am going to talk to them also.

In Iran, Rafasanjani wanted to help on this mosque. He even asked how much it would cost but we could not conclude. But now, there is Khatami and his people, even Rafsanjani is still there.

I am going to talk to all of them asking them to help you.

As government, we are also going to help because we also have our capabilities. We are going to start with the Muftis official vehicle.

We shall also look into other issues, now that the national treasury is getting better. Some people do not know the connection between the treasury and government services. Some think it is a laughing matter, but government services require funds. Before you talk about services, look into the treasury. When it is empty, keep quiet.

But we are slowly getting there, now we have UPE with almost 7 million pupils. We spend UGX304 billion every year on UPE.

That wouldn't be possible if we had not collected revenue. We will do more but let us start with the small issues. We will address all the issues as the treasury improves.

I am very happy to have been here with you today. I didn't know that we (Cattle keepers) share certain traits with Muslims. One of them is fasting. Unlike you who fast for 30 days, as a cattle keeper I fast every day. After taking milk in the morning, I am not supposed to eat until evening when I return.

It is only the young ones below 10 years who are allowed to park food. But if a mature person like me dare eat during day, I can't get a lady to marry. Therefore fasting is good for the body. It trains the body.

The other trick is that of sitting on the mat. I didnt know that is good for the body muscles. But next time, please put for me a pillow.

I congratulate you upon all the achievements.

Thank very much

In this speech, President Museveni highlighted the importance of Muslim unity and institutionalism.

At the time of this speech, Old Kampala Hill was more of a bush. But after the speech, the hill started transforming and today, it can be described as New Kampala Hill, thanks to President Museveni's supporting hand and the new Muftis hard work.

His first direct contribution to UMSC was the Muftis official Vehicle, but when the national treasury grew as he promised in the speech, he gave the Mufti another new vehicle.

Today, all the 9 Regional Kadhis and the majority of the District Kadhis have vehicles donated by President Yoweri Museveni.

On the side of institutional building, the first symbolic gesture that President Museveni made was to recognize UMSC as the only handle of the entire Muslim fraternity in Uganda.

He has not only been consistent on this issue, but made several other good will gestures like supporting the UMSC elections, setting up special committees to support the Muslim unity and development process, rescuing UMSC properties starting with the Old Kampala Hill whose land title was secured under his leadership.

The other property he rescued recently is the William Street Mosque.

He has also donated land in Mbale and Kampala towards the Islamic University in Uganda.

All these and other milestones have been possible because Presdient Museveni had a trusted and dedicated partner as the Mufti of Uganda and this is none other than His Eminence Shk. Shaban Ramadhan Mubaje.

Muslims had to wait for almost 30 years since the formation of UMSC to see real unity and real change inform of structural and institutional development.

That is why I insist that we give credit where it is due. For last 19 years, the current UMSC administration under the current Mufti of Uganda H.E Shk. Shaban Ramadhan Mubaje has done way too much for Muslims and Islam in Uganda; than what previous UMSC administrations, all combined did.

Like any other large institution, UMSC has had its challenges or mistakes, but these are small drops in the ocean of developments that the current UMSC administration has put in place. These developments are there for everyone to see.

Therefore, for once, let us appreciate these two men;

The President of Uganda His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for landmark contributions to Islam and,

The current Mufti of Uganda Shk. Shaban Ramadhan Mubaje for transforming UMSC into a flourishing institution and sacrificing a lot for the sake of Muslim unity and development.

Haji Nsereko Mutumba is a farmer and former UMSC spokesperson