'Nsereko Mutumba was a moving encyclopaedia and advocate of Muslim unity'

Muhammad Nsereko Mutumba, the fallen RDC of Kayunga district was not only knowledgeable about Islam, a religion he served, he was the go to person about the country's political and social history.

Mutumba, the former spokesperson of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) passed on early this morning at Rubaga Hospital and his demise has been a shocked to many Muslims across the country.

He died at the age of 68.

Mutumba was part of the recently concluded retreat for RDCs at the National Leadership Institute in Kyankwanzi and he participated in all activities according to people who attended the retreat.

He will be laid to rest today at Mugongo village, Kyengera in accordance with the Islamic religion.

Ramadhan Mugalu, the secretary general at UMSC, described Mutumba as someone who loved his religion and the country at large.

"It is a very sad moment for the loss of Hajj Nsereko Mutumba. It is a very great loss to the entire Muslim Community. We have worked with him as the spokesperson UMSC for a long time," he said.

He said Mutumba as a very strong and firm man who was very knowledgeable about the issues regarding Islam right from way back.

"He was very knowledgeable about the history of Uganda as a country and he was a very strong cadre of NRM although he was not working in government until he was appointed the RDC. I think when he was still the spokesperson at UMSC, any issues against NRM, he could come and speak about it," Mugalu told The Nile Post.

Who was Nsereko Mutumba?

Ahmed Musaazi Kateregga,the deputy Resident City Commissioner (RCC) Masaka City told the Nile Post that he first met Nsereko Mutumba in 1991 when he was the director for the Foundation for Islamic Development (FID), the foundation he used to empower Muslim youth in Uganda.

At the same period, Mutumba was also the chairperson of the Kampala City Abattoir Association, a leading businessman dealing in the meat products. He was once manager at Kampala Meat Packers.

"He supported very many people in education., Even when I was studying for my diploma in journalism, he sponsored me. Later he went through ladders and became the spokesperson at UMSC but he joined politics a long time in the 1980s and was among the youths who were in UPM which was started by President Museveni and Bidandi Ssali," Kateregga explained.

He said Mutumba was a very intelligent man and an advocate for peace and unity among Muslims.

"He had general knowledge in almost every issue. He was a very good researcher. He survived from being assassinated by ADF. He survived a bomb blast when the guys wanted to kill him in 1997 because he condemned their move and action and he discouraged the youth to join them," narrated Kateregga.

Haruna Kanaabi, a journalist who was a very close to the deceased told the Nile Post that Mutumba was very passionate about Muslim affairs.

"He was committed to serve the Muslim community and he has been very instrumental of things which many Ugandans don’t recall or have taken for granted especially what Muslims lost when Idi Amin was overthrown and what we gained when Amin was in power," he explained.

Mutumba has been encouraging Muslims to always write so that there is a true record of what has been happening within the Muslim community.

"I think the culture of writing and speaking openly is still lacking because very many Muslims who serve people rarely talk and explain their positions, so Mutumba was good at that," said Kanaabi.

Mutumba was born in Bukanga in Isingiro District in 1954 but he spent most of his time in Buganda. He died at the age of 68. He was very close to Sheikh Kassim Mulumba and Sheikh Kamulegeya.

For over 10 years, Mutumba was the face and voice of UMSC and he left the institution in 2020 after his contract expired.