Sheikh Kirya the 9th Muslim cleric killed in two years

Jul 01, 2015

THE Muslim community in Uganda is mourning the murder of Sheikh Ibrahim Hassan Kirya who was on Tuesday night shot dead by unidentified assailants

By Farooq Kasule

THE Muslim community in Uganda is mourning the murder of Sheikh Ibrahim Hassan Kirya who was on Tuesday night shot dead by unidentified assailants.

Sheihk Kirya becomes the 9th  Muslim cleric to be slain in a period of 2 years. (See history of murders bottom)

Eye witnesses said that Kirya was shot thrice on his way home at Bweyogerere in Wakiso district east of the capital, Kampala.

 He was shot by two assailants on a ‘bodaboda’ as he had stopped to buy groceries, according to the people at the scene.

 

The crime scene at Bweyogerere. Photo/ Peter Busomoke

Reports further indicate that four people were injured by stray bullets in the fracas.

 

This comes nearly a month after another Muslim cleric; Sheikh Abdul Rashid Wafula was shot dead in similar style by assailants in Nakalole town, Mbale.

 

Other prominent clerics are the Shiite leader Sheikh Dr Abdul Qadr Muwaya, Sheikh Mustafa Bahiga, Abdul Karim Ssentamu and Hajj Abubaker Kiweewa who were in 2012 gunned down by unknown assailants in different locations in the city. 

 

Who is Sheikh Ibrahim Hassan Kirya

Kirya was born in June 1966 to the late Haji Hassan Wasswa Ssesanga and Hajjat Noor Nakayiza of Nakawa division.

 

He attended Entebbe Quran School, Masanga, Kireka UMEA, Bilal Islamic School Bwaise and later in Sudan where he completed his studies.

 

He was once the head of the Munazzamat al-Da’wa al-Islamiyya in Uganda since 2000, making him the first person to hold the office in his home country.

 

 He is well-known for directly intervening in the Nakaseero mosque battles.

 

The burial ceremony will be held today at Kibuli according to his son Ibrahim Ssemambo.

A HISTORY OF SHEIKH MURDERS

Sheikh Ibrahim Hassan Kirya, spokesperson of the kibuli based muslim faction gunned down Tuesday night by unknown gun men who were riding on a boda boda becomes the 4th prominent Muslim leader to be shot dead within the last seven months reports Charles Etukuri. He is also the 9th Muslim leader to be murdered within the last 2 years raising fears among the Muslim community and country at large.

 Abdul Rashid Wafula  the imam of Bilal Mosque in Mbale was shot on May 21 at around 9:00pm at the gate of his home in Nakaloke, Mbale.
 

According to family and friends, his killers who were riding a motorbike, shot him five times in the chest before fleeing.
 

Others killed within the last 7 months include Sheikh Mustafa Bahiga who was shot dead on December 28 at the Bwebajja Mosque on Entebbe road.
 

His death was almost similar to that of Wafula because his killers shot him five times as he was going for Ishae prayer.
 

Shortly before he was murdered, killers had also trailed Sheikh Dr. Abdul Kadir Muwaya, the Shiite leader at his home in Mayuge district.
 

Other Muslim leaders killed included Sheikh Abdu Karim Sentamu, leader of Sheikh in the Dawat — Islamic sect gunned down on April 22, 2012.
 

Two months later, Hajj Abubaker Kiweewa, a pro-Kibuli Mosque Muslim faction leader, was also gunned down by unknown assailants within the premises of his Prime Supermarket in Kyanja.
 

Others include Yunus Abu Bakr Mudungu, Muhammad Maganda and Abdu Jawali Sentunga.

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