Kayihura sets up special team to investigate sheikh’s murder

Police Chief Kale Kayihura talks to residents of Kyanja Village, a Kampala suburb, on Saturday after receiving the sad news of Sheikh Kiweewa’s death. Sheikh Kiweewa was murdered on Friday night at his supermarket in the area. Photo by Isaac Kasamani

What you need to know:

Bloody murder. The move follows continued bloody murders of pro-Kibuli Muslim leaders, awaking fears that the faction could be a target.

Police Chief Kale Kayihura has set up another special committee of investigators to hunt down the killers of one more pro-Kibuli Mosque Muslim faction leader, Abubaker Kiweewa, amid growing fears that the group’s leaders are being targeted.

Hajj Kiweewa was shot dead by unknown assailants at 9pm on Friday within the premises of his Prime Supermarket in Kyanja, a city suburb.

His murder comes barely two months after the Inspector General of Police constituted a special team of police investigators to probe the murder of another member of the same faction, the respected Islamic cleric Sheikh Abdul Karim Sentamu, who was shot to death in April.

According to Mr Ibin Ssenkumbi, the Kampala Metroplitan police spokesperson, the investigators have not yet got a break through and investigations are ongoing although no suspects have been arrested in either case.

The new committee that is headed by Police Commissioner Joel Aguma is out in the field, Mr Ssenkumbi confirmed to this newspaper.
Kiweewa’s shooting on Friday provoked fresh finger pointing by the Kibuli-based faction of a Muslim community torn between two sides competing for leadership of the Islamic faith in the country.

The Kibuli group opposed to the leadership of government-leaning Sheikh Ramathan Mubajje has now accused security organisations of not doing enough to protect Muslims allied to Supreme Mufti Zubair Kayongo yet they appear to be deliberately targeted.

“The way the two people have been killed leave a lot of questions unanswered and we are worried whether we have been targeted or not,” Shiekh Hassan Kirya, the spokesperson of Kibuli Muslim faction, said.

Sheikh revealed: “We have been told that all the money [in Kiweewa’s case] was left at the scene; so there are no possibilities that it was a robbery.”
A gun was abandoned by the suspected shooter on the scene of murder.

A private security guard manning the supermarket also sustained serious injuries during the shooting incident and has since been admitted to Mulago Hospital for medication.

Who is Hajji Kiweewa
Leadership: Hajj Muhammad Abubaker Kiweewa of Kyanja-Kisaasi in Kawempe Divisison, was a leader in the Kibuli Muslim faction.

Work: In his early 40s at time of death, Hajj Kiweewa was an employee of Allied Bank. He was also the managing director of Kigejjogejjo Real Estate Company: Among his private businesses was a general merchandise shop in Bukoto just outside the city, and Prime Supermarket.

Family: He was a member of the Nakyewa Muslim Group (an association of Muslim businessmen). He is survived by two wives and seven children.

Fate: At the time of his death, he was said to have been preparing to travel to Mbale District with the Kibuli faction leader Sheikh Zubair Kayongo to celebrate the anniversary of the return of the Muslim cleric, Nuhu Mbogo, from exile in 1898 this weekend.