3 Muslim faithful sue government over mosque raid

KAMPALA. Government has been sued following last week’s ransacking of Nakasero Mosque by a joint force of police officers and Anti-Terrorism Task Force, who allegedly made off with a number of valuables including computers, mobile phones, and unspecified amounts of money.
Core to the lawsuit filed yesterday before the High Court in Kampala by three concerned Muslim faithful is that it was unlawful for the police to break into Nakasero Mosque in the wee hours of December 27 since they didn’t have a search warrant.
The three applicants who sued the Attorney General (AG), the chief government legal advisor, include Siraje Nsambu Kifampa, Habib Buwembo and Musa Musuda Yusuf.
“The action of the respondent’s [Attorney General] security operatives of raiding, breaking into and ransacking Nakasero Mosque at dawn on December 27, 2016 with or without a search warrant was unlawful and unjustifiable..,” reads in part the law suit filed before court.
Through their lawyers of Centre for Legal Aid, the concerned Muslims want court to direct the government to unconditionally return all items including computers, mobile phones, motorcycles, money, documents and compact disks containing Islamic teachings that the security operatives confiscated from the mosque. They are also seeking compensation for damages following the police’s raid. They also want court to issue an order stopping the security operatives from carrying out similar raids again.
Mr Musuda, one of the petitioners, in his affidavit before court, narrates how the alleged police raid happened as he claims to have been one of the Muslim faithful who were arrested during the raid.
He contends that in the wee hours of December 27, without prior notice, a combined team of security operatives suspected to have included members of police, military police and UPDF and the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force raided Nakasero Mosque.
He adds that during the raid, they indiscriminately battered and arrested whoever was found in the mosque’s compound before ransacking; vandalising the whole mosque in search of what is ‘unknown’ to the leaders of Juma-Iyyat Daawat Ssalafiyyah Muslim community.
Mr Musuda says he is one of the 12 caretakers who were resting in the mosque when the security personnel stormed and cut padlocks as they forced their way into the mosque on Entebbe Road in Kampala.
“As a result of the aforesaid dawn raid conducted by the respondent’s security operatives, the State has wounded the feelings of the applicants and other members of the Jamu-iyyat Daawat Ssalafiyyah Muslim community, insulted their religion, and caused them to suffer less favourable treatment and stigmatisation in law enforcement on grounds of their religion,” Mr Musuda, who witnessed the raid states in his affidavit.
He adds: “At all times during the search, my colleagues and I who were now tied up inside the mosque were neither shown nor provided with a copy of the search warrant authorising the raid.”
But a few days after the alleged raid on Nakasero Mosque, the Inspector General of Police, Gen Kale Kayihura, came out to defend the raid.
Gen Kayihura, while addressing the media, said one of the Muslim suspects currently in their detention, gave them very vital clues of the whereabouts of the evidence that they need in the investigations regarding the gunning down of Sheikh Maj Muhammad Kiggundu.

The petitioners

The three applicants are Habib Buwembo [Jamu-iyyat Daawat Ssalafiyyah Muslim community head of media], Siraje Kifampa Nsambu [acting secretary general and spokesperson of Jamu-iyyat Daawat Ssalafiyyah Muslim community], and Yusuf Musa Musuda [one of the imams in charge of the 6am Subhuhi prayers at Nakasero Mosque].

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