BUGANDA HOMELAND MUSLIM LEADERS KILLED IN UGANDA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kampala.

President Museveni has told Muslims not to live in fear because of the incessant killing of the sheikhs in the country.

In a recorded Ramadan message, Mr Museveni said police have arrested a number of suspected killers whom he said were linked to rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in DR Congo but warned they will be defeated.

“We have arrested a number of those killers. They are in court. I don’t know why people don’t talk about that. But, we have not arrested all of them. That’s where the issue is,” said the President.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sheihk Kirya has become the 12th Muslim cleric to be slain in a period of 2 years.

 

World Bulletin / News Desk

As questions still linger on who is behind Muslim killings in Uganda, another cleric was gunned down last night on his way home.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, the Uganda Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga confirms Sheikh Ibrahim Hassan Kirya’s death saying, “We have a murder and we don’t have a motive or suspect, but we have commenced inquiries into the whole matter.”

Enanga tells AA, “We want to see what our teams that went out into the night have got, since the incident occurred and we are taking every effort to see to it that the perpetrators are tracked down.”

Hassan Kirya is the 3rd Muslim Cleric to be gunned down in less than seven months in the same execution style after being trailed by motor cyclists commonly known as boda boda’s and shot dead.

This brings the total number of Muslim leaders killings in Uganda in the past two years to twelve.

The Police spokesperson states, “He was shot in front of a fruit stall where he was buying fruits in Bweyogerere a Kampala suburb.”

Enanga is confident they will apprehend some suspects arguing that the last murder of Shiekh Mustapha Bahiga in December 2014 has seen 12 people being charged with murder including the Amir Ummah Sheikh Suleiman Kamoga. “We have managed to charge a number of people and previously witnesses have confessed how the organized racket operates.” he tells AA

“So we are confident we shall get some evidence from the crime scene since we have some witnesses who have given us some descriptions of the killers.” He adds

The killers are reported to have shot at a Kenyan Trailer Registration number plates, KAN 642F, enroute from Kampala. Enanga reveals that, “The turn boy received a bullet to the orbit and shoulder, and unfortunately he too passed on.”

Another by stander also got shot and sustained serious injuries to the shoulder and according to Enanga “is in critical condition.”

After a back to back killing of Muslim Clerics in Uganda, the Police promised to provide them with security and among those who were guarded was Sheikh Hassan Kirya. But Enanga says, “When he was killed he had just parted ways with his body guard whom he offered to drop at the Special Investigations Unit and the assailants who must have been trailing him took advantage and shot him.”

Al Hajji Muhammad Kisambira the Secretary General of Uganda Muslim Supreme Council is however not satisfied with the Police’s efforts. “The last time the Inspector General of Police Gen. Kale Kaihura came here he said it was members of the Allied Democratic Forces that are behind these killings, but we have not seen anyone linked to the ADF brought before Court.”

Lamenting Al Hajji Kisambira tells AA, “Even those they arrested are yet to be taken before a High Court for trial with sufficient evidence, only then shall we as Muslims know that the Police is working.”

“Justice delayed is justice denied, this has left us as Muslims even more scared.” He stresse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Muslim leaders in Uganda have blamed police for not protecting Muslim imams.

 

World Bulletin / News Desk

 Ugandan Muslim leaders on Wednesday voiced anger over the perceived failure of the police to protect Muslim imams following the murder one day earlier of Sheikh Hassan Kirya.

Kirya was gunned down on Tuesday night by unknown assailants, making him the fourth Muslim imam to be killed in Uganda since last December.

Addressing thousands of mourners who gathered at Kampala’s Kibuli Mosque, Sheikh Mahmood Kibaate, the acting supreme mufti, asserted: “We don’t fear dying because it [i.e., death] was meant for us all; but the way we are dying is what scares us.”

“We want to warn those killing our leaders: even if you do it ten times, when we retaliate, you will not enter the courts of law,” he added.

Sheikh Noor Muzaata, another Muslim imam who addressed the crowd, did not mince words.

“The end of Sheikh Kirya should not mean that we stop fighting those who are killing us,” he said.

Lashing out at both the government and police, Muzaata declared: “You say prevention is better than a cure, but nothing is being done to prevent these killings.”

He said Kirya had received death threats before his murder, but the police – who were told – did nothing about it.

 “We gave you all the information, including suspects’ names, but you did nothing,” Muzaata said, addressing police.

“We told you these murderers had a list of people they were targeting, but all we see from the list we gave you are dead bodies,” he added.

Following last December’s murders, Muslim imams provided police with a list of six people they believed would be targeted.

Since then, two of those named on the list have been killed, while a third survived an assassination attempt.

Second Deputy Prime Minister Moses Ali, for his part, drew the ire of the already angry crowd when he said: “I know many sheikhs have been killed, but the government isn’t perfect. If you think the government is too weak and can’t manage, then vote them out during elections.”

In an effort to allay the crowd’s anger, Police Inspector-General Kale Kayihura – who has consistently blamed the murders on Al-Shabaab and the Allied Democratic Forces rebel group – stated: “I have listened to your cries and understand your anger, but I’m also tired of coming here because of deaths.”

Describing Kirya as a “freedom fighter” who opposed extremism, Kayihura added: “We are not perfect. I acknowledge there was laxity with his protection. His bodyguard left him when he was breaking his [Ramadan] fast – that shouldn’t have happened.”  

He went on, however, to blame the country’s judicial system for the failure to prosecute the culprits.

“Following the previous murders, we made several arrests,” he said. “But even if the person pleads guilty, the assumption that he is innocent until proven guilty by courts of law is an obstacle.”

Kayihura  went  on to tell mourners that, according to intelligence obtained by police, Kirya had been killed “because he was working with me, so we think those in jail could have done this by sponsoring the murder.”

He added: “We need leads to connect them to the crime scene.”

 

 

 

 

 

KIZZA BESIGYE IS BACK AGAIN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Some people have been saying that those NRM supporters on the fence would not support me. That they would support someone gentle. Those who don’t support Museveni in NRM have a candidate now. This needs discussion,” Besigye told Luweero residents yesterday while on his party consultative campaigns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UGANDA NEW POLITICAL LEADERS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LIRA. As the bid for Ugandan presidency gains momentum, the eldest son of former president Apollo Milton Obote is the latest person to declare his interest to join the race for the 2016 elections.
Bishop Edward Stanley Engena- Maitum, who currently lives abroad, confirmed he has joined the race but declined to reveal which party he intends to use as a platform.
“Uganda, will you accept my hand for presidency?” asked Bishop Engena in a statement issued on July 11 as he declared interest to run against President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in 2016 poll.

 

“My deceased father was a JUMBO ELEPHANT whose footprints are all over the continent of Africa in the liberties and dignities of Africans. He was a giant who paid the price for the principles he believed in; an astute man, father and leader whose intelligence and vision was far ahead of his time,”he said.
This development comes at a time when Bishop Engena’s brother Jimmy Akena, who is also the MP for Lira Municipality, is under fire from his critics for taking over the UPC party presidency.
When contacted on phone on Monday, the bishop declined to say what he intends to do for Ugandans.

 

In the statement however, he said: “Tentatively, I will share my burden and vision for this nation at a congress on a date and at a venue in Kampala that will be communicated on various media forums soon,” adding that critics will not pull back his presidential ambitions.
“In football they are three personalities at play: spectators screaming and shouting yet scoring no goals; referees giving orders and threats yet winning no medals and players who score goals and win cups.It is incumbent upon us, the new generation, to seize the moment and arise!” he added. 
When contacted about his brother’s decision and whether he intends to offer him any support, Mr Akena said Bishop Engena is free to aspire for any political position.

 

“Everybody is free to aspire for any political post in Uganda. For me, I have a big task of ensuring that the party I lead meets the objectives for which it was formed,” he said.
When asked whether his party intends to front a candidate for the 2016 presidential race, Mr Akena responded saying the decision will be made at the National Council, “taking into account the Democratic Alliance and the political terrain.” 
Bishop Engena’s journey- growing up and schooling was scattered across East Africa due to political reasons. He lived through two phases of exile for a period of 30 years in Tanzania & Kenya respectively.