Many imams, district kadhis live on handouts, says deputy mufti
The second deputy mufti, Sheikh Muhammad Ali Waiswa has revealed that majority of imams, county sheikhs, and some district kadhis live on handouts since they don’t get salaries and allowances which has affected their performance in their respective jurisdiction
He made the remarks as he closed a one-day meeting for the performance review of faith and community initiative convened by Uganda Muslim Medical Bureau (UMMB) the medical arm of UMSC at SS Hotel Makerere Kikoni in Kampala.
Waiswa explained that most of the imams are over burdened with a lot of issues brought by individual muslims including those that need financial support.
"But you still find their followers pestering them for money yet they generally volunteer to serve Islam. So volunteering is very challenging and the issues raised in the report are very critical," Waiswa observed.
He was responding to the findings that showed that the Imams selected to supervise the project implementation had generally abandoned their roles despite the fact that they were vibrant at the beginning.
Waiswa highlighted several ways that can be used to scale up and motivate imams and county sheikhs such as recognising them with certificates of appreciation signed both by the Mufti and UMMB and rewarding those outstanding with bicycles or motorcycles.
Waiswa particularly singled out best approaches exhibited in the performance report delivered by Muzamir Kivumbi, the UMMB monitoring and evaluation manager.
"This approach based on research is the way to go if we are to improve service delivery and the management of mosques activities in terms of resource mobilisation, and accountability because of its efficiency," Waiswa remarked.
On the prevalence of HIV/ Aids in the communities,Waiswa noted with concern the high rate especially among the youths and couples in distant marriages, which results from poverty and unemployment.
Waiswa encouraged imams to help the youth in finding suitable spouses, carry out pre- marital counselling for those couples going into marriage and continuous counselling among married couples.
He also advised imams to update themselves with the current trends so as to ably guide Muslims under their care.
