The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Entebbe, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Inspector General of Police Abbas Byakagaba has ordered the Masjid Taqua Mosque in Entebbe to be opened. The mosque was closed early this month after two feuding leaderships claimed ownership.
It was opened on Wednesday, under the supervision of the Entebbe Division Police Commander Steven Twinomugisha, following Byakagaba’s directive.
The directive reportedly followed a meeting involving Byakagaba, Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) head Sheikh Shaban Mubaje and some UMSC Muslim leaders of Entebbe Muslim District. The closure had disrupted the normal flow of religious and other work at the Mosque as the parties feuded over possession and control.
The Mosque was originally constructed by Indian Muslims but was handed to local Muslims after former President Idi Amin expelled the Indians from Uganda in 1972.
A group headed by Umar Bashir Matovu constituted an entity, Masjid Taqua Company Limited in 2012 and secured a title for the Mosque and surrounding land acknowledged as Muslim property.
However, their leadership was challenged by a group led by Matovu Edirisa Phigo and others, calling the former illegitimate.
Bashir Matovu’s group contend that their actions were prompted by attempts by some wrong people to sell off the property meant to benefit Muslims of Entebbe. The group were 2015 forcibly kicked out by adversaries led by Matovu Edirisa Phigo, Sadiq Mukasa, Farook Ssendijja and others.
They petitioned the court to have their opponents declared illegitimate and their occupation of the Mosque unlawful. They also demanded costs for loss occasioned by the adversaries’ actions.
However, Chief Magistrate’s Court Entebbe advised them to seek a settlement as they were all Muslim believers. In August 2019 consent was reached in which all the parties agreed to constitute a joint leadership for the mosque and cease all litigation against one another.
The Bashir Matovu group however remained dominant and in control of the property, to the disappointment of the Matovu Edirisa Phigo group who over a month ago mobilized afresh and kicked out the Bashir Matovu group.
Sensing possible disruption of peace, the Entebbe Municipal Council security committee convened and agreed that the mosque be closed until further notice.
Meanwhile, the Bashir Matovu group petitioned the high court (Land Division – Kampala) on October 3rd, 2024 seeking declarations that Masjid Taqua Company Limited in which he and his group are members are the rightful owners land comprising of Plot 21 Portal Road, that attempts by the latter group with support from UMSC to sell off part of the land are illegal, that the break-in and entry by the adversarial group were illegal and their actions amount to trespass for which general damages should be awarded against the group.
Haji Sadiq Mukasa, secretary of the Bashir Matovu group said yesterday they had been in court for an interlocutory application. The court registrar, he said, had indicated he would visit the locus on November 4th as the parties wait for the outcomes of the application and eventual hearing of the main suit.
Bashir’s group contended that an Indian investor had been sold a plot on part of the contested land but was stopped from developing the land due to ongoing wrangles. He reportedly wants a refund of his money 800million Shillings with interest or he is given possession and quiet enjoyment of the land.
This, Bashir Matovu’s group alleges is at the heart of the matter as beneficiaries of the sale, with support from the UMSC leadership in Kampala seeking to avoid making a refund or being sued.
The UMSC under Mubaje’s administration has been the subject of criticism by big number of Ugandan Muslims due to the wanton sale of the Islamic Mission’s properties, which sale critics say is accentuated by personal greed and self-aggrandisement.
Mubaje who reached retirement but remain in charge, has at times accused critics of being motivated by sectarianism and tribal feelings.
Being the charismatic leader he is, attempts to oust him UMSC headquarters have a number of times proved futile, which led his critics to form a paralel leadership in Kibuli under the titular head of the “Supreme Mufti.”
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