Top Muslim cleric gunned down in City Center

By Vision reporter

Unknown gunmen on a motorcycle gunned down a Muslim cleric in the city on Friday night.

 Sheikh Abdu Karim Sentamu, a leader of Sheikhs in the Dawat — Islamic sect was gunned down at about 9:30pm at the William and Ben Kiwanuka Street junction, after apparently being trailed.

 The cleric with a degree in Islamic theology in Prophet Muhammad’s Sunna (Hadith) had just left the contested Masjid Noor Mosque on William Street, where he had presided over a Madarasa (Muslim class) when the thugs caught up with him at the nearby junction.

At the time of the incident, Sentamu was driving his car — a Toyota Noah in the company of another person, said to either be his daughter or wife. He was killed with two bullets to his body, the Police said.

Deputy Kampala Police spokesperson Ibin Ssenkumbi yesterday said the thugs waved down the cleric and saluted him in Islam before one of them shot him. They then sped off on the motorcycle. Sentamu breathed his last at the Kibuli Muslim Hospital, where he had been rushed.

“We are treating it as an outright case of murder,” Ssenkumbi said, adding that no arrests had so far been made. Speaking to mourners at the Tablique Mosque in Nakasero, the Supreme Mufti Sheikh Zubairi Kayongo vowed the Muslims would not be derailed by the death of Sheikh Ssentamu in their struggle.

He appealed to the authorities to carry out thorough investigations, saying Muslims had a lot of interest in the murder.

Kayongo, however, said they would continue fighting for peace and justice and asked the Government to protect the life of its citizens.