Stop supporting child marriages, Muslims warned

By Faustine Odeke

TORORO - Muslim leaders in Tororo district have been instructed to stop supporting and presiding over child marriages.

The call was made recently by Major Abubakar Kalume, the head teacher of Rubongi Army Primary school during recent a dialogue with a visiting Muslim team from Zanzibar at TLT Hotel in Tororo town.

The theme of the dialogue was the role of the private sector in supporting Islam.

The district Khadi, Ibrahim Yusuf Ragany Asante chaired the meeting which was also attended by his predecessor Sheikh Rajab Ismail Odoi.

The Zanzibar delegation toured various parts of the country in Kampala and Mbale.

During the meeting, Major Kalume cautioned imams and county sheikhs against presiding over child marriages in exchange for material gifts, warning that their days were numbered.

The deputy Khadi Sheikh Hussein Gafuko and Muslim students from neighboring institutions of higher learning including UCC Tororo, IUIU Mbale and Busitema University attended the dialogue.

Haji Rashid Govule Iga, the former LC5 Chairperson of Yumbe district, highlighted in-fighting, struggle for power, intrigue, dishonesty, and mistrust as some of the internal problems dragging the Muslims behind in all sectors of development.

He further revealed that there is a calculated move by external forces to negatively destroy Islam by calling them (Muslims) terrorists, jihadists, murderers and killers.

Amid this negative publicity, he added, it's upon the Muslims to clean and correct it through dropping their conservative behaviors of looking at people of other religions as enemies and instead dine and wine with them, visit when they fall sick and bury when they lose beloved ones as they propagate Islam.
 

true
The dialogue took place at TLT Hotel in Tororo town. (Photo credit: Faustine Odeke)

The former district leader also challenged Muslim leaders entrusted with offices to use polite verses in the Quran while asking for contribution from faithful as opposed to applying rude and threatening language that if they don't contribute, they shall enter and rot in hell.

The visiting delegation included Dr. Isa Zidi, the dean of School of Kiswahili and Foreign languages at the State University of Zanzibar, Sheikh Muhamad Sulaiman (director AL-Noor radio Zanzibar), Sheikh Ali Abdallah (director of Imams), Hajati Halima Kassim (secretary general of Zanzibar Women Association), Hashim Pongeza (executive director Center for Youth Dialogue-Zanzibar who was the team leader) and Musa Kiberu from Uganda Muslim Supreme council.

The group encouraged Muslims not to be envious of one another but rather support each another in order to progress.

Their team leader, Hashim Pongeza asked the Ugandan team to increase youth engagement in all sectors and invest heavily in the education of their children so that they can get employed in all sectors of the economy.

His counterpart Dr. Isa Zidi asked all sects and groups to unite in vision, desist from divide-and-rule, learn from one another and avoid open criticism of others.

On his part, Sheikh Muhamad Sulaiman expressed pity over the alarming rate at which children are consuming drugs, saying it has forced most of the educated ones to forget helping parents who took them to school.