His Eminence Dr. Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan Mubaje the Mufti of Uganda,, has strongly condemned the assault of Muslims during the recent distribution of iftar packages at Kololo ceremonial grounds.
Hajjati Hadijah Namyalo, head of administration of the Office of the National Chairperson for the ruling National Resistance Movement, invited Muslims to Kololo grounds on Wednesday March 25th 2024 for the distribution of iftar packages.
This distribution coincided with the launch of Salaam Bank, the first Islamic Bank in the country. However, the distribution turned chaotic, prompting soldiers to resort to violence to contain the situation. Several Muslims sustained severe injuries as a result of the soldiers’ actions.
Addressing Muslims shortly after Friday prayers at Gaddafi National Mosque, Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan Mubaje denounced the assault.
“I want to condemn what happened at Kololo. Muslims were invited, and the President was supposed to provide iftar packages. They even invited my Regional Assistants, Kadhis, and Imams… But the way soldiers beat up people with sticks, it appears premeditated because there are no sticks at Kololo,” he stated.
“We have received reports of casualties resulting from the beatings. This is particularly egregious given that people were under the impression that they were invited by the National NRM Chairperson for iftar, yet they ended up being assaulted,” he added.
Sheikh Mubaje highlighted the fortunate timing of the incident at Kololo, which coincided with the President hosting Muslims at the official annual iftar dinner at State House Entebbe.
“If not for that, people might have assumed that the President was serving fasting Muslims sticks at Kololo,” he remarked.
He drew a parallel between the situation at Kololo and the events in Palestine, where Americans are providing food aid to starving people in Gaza while also supplying bombs used by the Israelis to kill those same individuals.
“We urge the organizers of the iftar distribution program at Kololo to publicly apologize to Muslims and the entire country for this regrettable event. It is Ramadan, and instead of receiving the promised packages, Muslims were left injured,” he demanded.
The Mufti announced that he had instructed the social services office to arrange iftar packages for the affected Muslims.
“We will personally distribute the food packs on Tuesday next week, ” he assured.
