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MBALE - Mufti of Uganda Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan Mubaje says he will leave office after identifying his suitable successor.

Speaking during a talk show on IUIU radio station based in Mbale city, Mubaje said he cannot surrender power anyhow.

“I want to hand over power to a person who will contribute to the development of the Muslim community and not these opportunists who are fighting me. We are still identifying that person and I believe we shall get that person very soon,” Mubaje said.

He added that the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) is struggling because it has no financial base.

He criticised Sheikh Abdallah Ssemambo saying he shouldn’t be among those fighting him.

Sheikh Ssemambo was last month appointed as the acting mufti of Uganda by a section of the members of the UMSC general assembly during a special meeting at Ggangu Muslim Primary School off Busabala road in Wakiso district.  

Ssemambo served as the deputy to Mubaje but he has since been suspended from office pending the conclusion of the impeachment process against him.

Mubaje came into office in December 2000 and he was expected to retire in 2025 when he clocks 70 years, but he remains eligible for another five years under the new UMSC constitution.

Mubaje said all the land transactions that have been made under his tenure have not only been done with the resolution of the executive as provided for under the UMSC constitution but have also been done in good faith.

“I don’t regret any transaction that we have made because all have been done in good faith,” Mubaje said.

Regarding William Street Mosque, Mubaje said he regrets leasing the same because the proceeds were used to build a shopping complex at Old Kampala that is earning the UMSC a monthly income.

Concerning Ssembabule land, Mubaje blamed Haji Ramathan Mugalu, the former UMSC secretary general, for turning against the UMSC after he was removed from office.

Mubaje, however, acknowledged that he signed the sale agreement regarding Ssembabule land although he said it was in the name of Arthur Kayanja and not Justus Kyabahwa.

“I know Justus Kyabahwa. We sold the Ssembabule land to him. I signed the agreement and it was in the name of Arthur Kayanja and it did not have the 12% interest rate per month. I think this was inserted into the agreement after I had signed it. I cannot sign on an agreement that includes interest, yet it is me who has been campaigning against it,” Mubaje said.

Mubaje said UMSC will refund shillings 3.5 billion to Kyabahwa minus the interest of 12% per month he is claiming.

Kyabahwa, however, argues that he will not accept the shillings 3.5 billion because his money has since accumulated to 19 billion. "I am a businessman and the terms of the agreement are very clear. I believe the court will resolve this," he said.

Genesis of the row

The current row at UMSC arises from the sale of the Ssembabule Muslim land. On June 24, 2020, UMSC sold land comprising LRV 3693 folio 12 ranch number 31A measuring 518 hectares at Ssembabule to Kyabahwa at sh3.5b.

The sale agreement was signed on June 24, 2020, between the parties and Kyabahwa paid sh3.5b to the UMSC subject to a 12% interest per month in case the UMSC failed to hand over the land to him.

After UMSC and Kyabahwa entered into the agreement, Enterprise Holdings Ltd owned by businessman Albert Muganga dragged UMSC, Mubaje, Dr Abdul-Kadir Balonde, the ex-UMSC chairperson and Haji Ramathan Mugalu, the ex-UMSC secretary general, to Masaka High Court stating that it had a running lease of 15 years on it, which it had secured from Sembabule Muslim district council and that it had also entered into a sale agreement with the UMSC and paid sh280m.

On December 24, 2022, Justice Victoria Nakintu Katamba, issued an order, compelling UMSC to transfer the certificate of title to Enterprise Uganda Ltd upon payment of sh620m unpaid contractual price at an interest rate of 24% per annum since 2017 to finalise the transaction.

Consequently, Kyabahwa, through his lawyers filed a summary suit at the commercial court seeking recovery of his money in addition to 12% interest per month as contained in the sale agreement.

On August 7, commercial court judge Grace Harriet Magala ordered UMSC to pay shillings 19 billion to Kyabahwa in vain, prompting the registrar to order for attachment of several USMC properties including the Gaddafi national mosque.

The Court of Appeal has since halted the planned attachment of the UMSC properties pending determination of the appeal by UMSC.