Mufti Mubajje faces fresh impeachment

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In their seven-page petition dated July 8, a copy of which Daily Monitor has seen, some members of General Assembly accused the trio of causing a constitutional crisis within the institution.

The petitioners argue that the tenure of the accused officials expired on March 13 and the General Assembly is not constituted in accordance with Article 2:7 of the UMSC Constitution.

“In an event like ours where the General Assembly expires before the process of constituting another one begins, power goes back to the members who are  the Muslims in Uganda,” the petition reads in part, “And they must be transparently sought countrywide of their guidance and authority  and no  nobody else has mandate to do the work of the General Assembly without permission of the constitution.”

It adds: “Therefore, the trio [is] currently operating [in office] illegally and in direct contravention of the Muslim law that ought to be followed in Uganda, thus overthrowing the UMSC Constitution and deliberately rendering Muslim structures ineffective.”

However, UMSC spokesperson, Mr Ashiraf Muvawala, dismissed the censure motion as a rumour, insisting that it is not on the agenda of the three-day General Assembly.

“According to UMSC Constitution and procedures, it’s the Joint Session which prepares the agenda for the General Assembly; so, the said impeachment of the Mufti and firing of the secretary General are not included,” he said.

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It remained unclear if the general assembly has power to vary items of an agendum once tabled.

The disgruntled delegates claim that Mr Nadduli had no powers to summon a UMSC General Assembly since his tenure expired on May 12.

They further accuse the UMSC top leaders of resorting to the use of forgery and falsehood as means to squash the Muslim faithful and circumvent accountability.

“The trio [has] arbitrarily sold off Muslim property, embezzled Muslim funds, caused financial loss and fostered disunity of the Muslim structures and no accountability has been given,” the petitioners noted, without providing specifics on the amounts involved.

Over 200 delegates drawn from 78 Muslim districts and nine regions across the country are currently attending a three-day General Assembly meeting at UMSC headquarters in Old Kampala under tight security in which they plan to discuss the proposed amendments to 1986 UMSC Constitution and also approve a road map for electing new Muslim leaders at all levels .

The assembly is the highest decision-making organ of UMSC, and is responsible for electing key top Muslim leaders, including the Mufti.

It is at this assembly that the architects of the censure motion plan to table the matter. By yesterday, at least 140 delegates had already signed the impeachment papers.

The same petition had earlier on Monday been sent to different offices including the Office of the President, Chief Justice and Speaker of Parliament.
“…therefore members of the General Assembly have agreed to pass a vote of no confidence in the top three leaders,” the petitioners wrote.

“Muslims were not consulted on the new amendments as it is stated in the Constitution, and there is no doubt [that] the outcome of the General Assembly will be legally challenged,” Sheikh Muhammad Irumba, a UMSC general assembly representative from Bunyoro/Toro Muslim region, told this newspaper yesterday.

He said it was practically impossible for delegates to review and pass the new constitution in just two days .

“We have in the last seven years been demanding for the General Assembly to convene, but we were not listened to, the committee which was appointed to spearhead the constitutional review process was dropped and instead management chose different people for their individual interests,” he alleged.

One of the delegates who preferred anonymity said if they are denied a chance to table the censure motion, they will walk out in protest.

“It appears Mubajje and group want to use this meeting to account for the Shs2.5b [that] UMSC got from government to organise elections. It is clear the initial process [for] the election is flawed, and we cannot be party to such fraud,” the delegate said.

The General Assembly comes almost five months after the term of office for the current leadership expired on March 17.

The UMSC elections, which were initially scheduled for May, didn’t take place ostensibly due to lack of funds and the delayed completion of the constitutional review process.
It is the amended constitution that is supposed to be followed while electing new Muslim leaders right from the mosque level to the UMSC General Assembly.

Shs6.9b had earlier been budgeted for the elections, but UMSC failed to raise the money.  

In May, Parliament approved Shs2.5b to facilitate UMSC electoral activities.

Mufti elections

After electing the Muslim leaders at lower levels next year, the faithful will shift focus to electing a new Mufti, the head of Muslims in Uganda.

The Muslim body last organised elections for members of the General Assembly in 2012 and for the Mufti in 2000.

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Under the current UMSC Constitution, Sheikh Mubajje, who has been in office since December 2000, is supposed to relinquish office when he clocks 70 years.

The proposed new constitution, which Monitor has seen, indicates that the Mufti should be aged at least 55 and can serve more than one term of 10 years until he clocks 80 years. This means that 66-year-old Mufti Shaban Mubajje, if re-elected, will be eligible to occupy the office for another 14 years after his current term expires in 2025.

There is also a proposal to have the Mufti elected by only 22 members of a College of learned sheikhs, as opposed to the general assembly picking him, as provided in the current Constitution.

Impeachment  procedure

According to Article 9 of UMSC Constitution, an impeachment is initiated by a petition signed by at least one-third of the membership of the Joint Session (executive and College of Eminent Sheikhs).

Upon receipt of the petition, the chairperson of UMSC convenes a meeting of the Joint Session and later the assembly, which determines the fate of the accused person after listening to him.

A Mufti can be removed from office if he becomes of unsound mind, is declared bankrupt, conducts himself in a manner unbefitting of his office, commits a criminal offence which, in the opinion of the Joint Session, tarnishes his image in the public, violates Islamic norms or becomes incapable of performing his duties.

This is the first attempt to oust Mufti Mubajje from office. In 2006, just six years in office, the Muslim faithful moved to remove Mubajje over allegations of illegal sale of Muslim land and other prime property. He denied any wrongdoing, but was nonetheless dragged to court by some disgruntled groups.

A plethora of disagreements over Muslim affairs during Mubajje’s 22-year tenure   prompted the formation of a parallel administration headquartered on Kibuli Hill, a Kampala suburb. The splinter group is headed by self-styled Supreme Mufti.

Previously

If the censure motion against Mubajje succeeds, it won’t be the first time members of the assembly are doing it. There have been  two successful  censure motions against Mubajje before, but the latter adamantly refused to relinquish office.

In 2008, the General Assembly unanimously sacked Mubajje accusing him of  conducting himself in a manner not befitting Islamic principles after being implicated in irregular sale of community property on William Street, Kampala.

He declined to hand over office, arguing that the General Assembly had convened at a ‘wrong venue’, a hotel, instead of UMSC conference hall. In 2010, Mubajje was again impeached over dishonesty and incompetence, but he still remained in office.

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Last Wednesday, UMSC executive committee fired Mr Mugalu, the council’s secretary general, over allegations of “abuse of office, corruption, extortion and failure to provide accountability of [proceeds] from various Muslim community properties sold off to individual developers across the country”.

Mr Muhammad Aluma was elected to serve as acting secretary general. However, two days later,  the joint session overturned the resolution of the executive and reinstated Mr Mugalu on claims that he had not been given a “fair hearing”. The joint session comprises the executive and College of learned Sheikhs.

Sheikh Mubajje has repeatedly described his critics as mere opportunists who are using the sale of Muslim property as an excuse to bring him down. Recently, the Mufti said he wanted to serve as Mufti for a short time, but continuous court and internal UMSC disputes have forced him to stay on longer.