Ramathan Mugalu has been kicked out of Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) as the secretary general in a power struggle that has hit the institution once again amidst counter accusations over mismanagement of Muslim property.
Last week UMSC Joint Session Committee appointed Muhammad Ali Aluma as the Acting UMSC Secretary General for the next three months commencing April 5, 2023.
The meeting was chaired by Prof. Dr. Muhammad Lubega at UMSC headquarters at Old Kampala. Moments after being elected, Aluma took an oath of allegiance and promised to serve well in his new position.
A source told the Nile Post that Mugalu attempted to block the joint session meeting but his efforts were in vain and the meeting went on uninterrupted.
The Nile Post understands that Aluma, a lawyer by profession, had been working with the UMSC education department.
UMSC Joint Session Committee comprising the Executive Committee and Majlis Al Ulama Committee (College of Eminent Sheikhs) is the second most top organ of the council.
The meeting among other things also sworn in ten newly appointed regional representatives to the property & endowment ( Awqaf) committee.
Others sworn in were 21 members of the Muslim Arbitration & Conciliation Committee under Sheikh Abdu Obeid Kamulegeya and Sheikh Luutu Sulaiman Wandera. The committee is mainly comprised of the former Muslim leaders and included Sheikh Hussein Rajab Kakooza among other prominent elderly Sheikhs.
The committee reached the decision of relieving Mugalu of his position as the secretary general following findings from a five member team appointed by the Joint Session Committee in their last sitting on April 1, 2023 to investigate the validity of the contract of Ramathan Mugalu, the former UMSC Secretary as he had claimed.
The team chaired by Counsel Musa Kabega authored a nine page report indicating that the tenure of Mugalu had long expired following his nomination and appointment by a similar organ on January 21 2015 in line with the UMSC Constitution.
Dr. Adam Rajab Makmot Kibwanga read the report to the attentive members who later deliberated the findings and resolved to appoint an acting Secretary General pending the election of a substantive office holder within three months.
Muhamood Kateregga and Muhammad Ali Aluma were presented as candidates and at the end Aluma carried the day as was nominated and sworn in for the position by Were Abubaker Wadangho the UMSC Electoral Commission Chairperson.
In his speech, the Mufti of Uganda Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan Mubaje described the newly amended UMSC Constitution as a bitter pill, which aims at curing administrative illnesses that had affected the wellbeing of the council.
"I am really delighted that the Constitution is being implemented. So the noise made in public by disgruntled individuals is because they found themselves lacking the necessary academic qualifications for their desired Council positions, "Mubaje said.
Sheikh Kamulegeya called upon Muslims to utilize his committee to settle their disputes while Mr. Mugaino pledged to offer all the necessary expertise in management of Muslim properties.
Aluma pledged to create an enabling environment that will facilitate a smooth transition to the substantive Secretary General.
Last year in the same fight, Magulu was shown the exit over alleged abuse of office but the Joint Session of the same body reinstated him with the helping hand of Mufti Shaban Mubaje.
The Joint Session is the second top most organ of UMSC and comprises the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the UMSC and the College of Sheikhs.
In the same period before the committee resolved to suspend Mugalu from his position as the UMSC secretary general, he had appeared in the High Court in Masaka in a case where the UMSC was accused of irregularly selling off land belonging to Muslims in Sembabule district.
This land and other Muslim properties were placed under the leadership of Mugalu in which he is accused of failing to account for, according to our highly placed sources which are well acquainted with the matter.
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According to the UMSC constitution, the secretary general is the accounting officer and he is in charge of everything and finances that concern Muslims at the institution.
Mugalu is accused of forgery, indiscipline and mishandling of the registration of Muslim properties in Uganda where it is alleged that most of these properties are registered in his name instead of UMSC.
For instance, another source that sits at the College of Sheikhs told the Nile Post that Mugalu had registered the Old Kampala based Call Islamic University in his name instead of UMSC, something which angered most of the members of the committee.
Mugalu is also accused of bribery and forging signatures, minutes to pave his way to engage in various dirty deals which has tainted the image of the institution and the entire Muslim community.
In a phone interview, Mugalu declined to make a comment until he receives an official letter that relieves him of his position.
