Politics cited in murder of Mayuge Shi’ite Muslim’s leader
Gen Kayihura said there had been several warnings from a gang suspected to have previously gunned down, among others, high-profile persons, including Maj Kiggundu, Sheikh Mustafa Bahiga, Sheikh Hassan Kirya, Sheikh Abdullah Muwaya (pictured), and State prosecutor Joan Kagezi. File photo
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The remains of the Cleric had by press time been scheduled to be interred in his home in Kavule village in Buyemba Parish, Imanhyiro Sub County at 4 p.m
The leader of the Shi’ite Muslim Sect in Uganda, Sheikh Dr Abdul Kadhir Muwaya, has been killed.
The Sheikh who was also the founder and Director of the Ahlal Bait Islamic Foundation was gunned down in front of his house in Kavule village in Mayuge district on Christmas Day, moments after he came from the nearby Buyemba Mosque where had had said the Isha prayers.
Isha is the last of the 5 prayers that Muslims are required to say in line with the 5 pillars of Islam.
According to family members, the assailants who were armed with a rifle rode into the Cleric’s compound on a motorcycle and shot him twice in the chest and at close range, as he, thinking they were visitors, got up to receive them. The Cleric is said to have died instantly.
The assailants are then said to have sped off towards Mayuge town before branching off and riding towards Musita trading center along the Jinja-Iganga highway.
The Police working on a tip off and with the aid of soldiers from the UPDF’s nearby Magamaga ordinance depot swung into action and mounted an operation in Nkombe village in Imanhyiro, where they searched a lodge and shrine belonging to one Ms Joke Manguria.
According to the Regional Police Commander, South Busoga, Mr Moses Muluya, though the woman escaped, one man who is believed to be one of the two assailants was arrested.
Mr Muluya who declined to reveal the identity of the prime suspect for fear of jeopardizing investigations said that a total of four people have so far been arrested in connection with the murder.
“We are not going to leave any stone unturned. We shall definitely arrest all those who were involved in this murder,” he said. The motive of the murder is yet to be ascertained but speculations indicate that it could be linked to the local politics in which the late has been an active stakeholder.
Mr Muluya said that other investigating arms such as the Flying Squad have since been called in to help with the investigations.
State Minister for Gender, Ms Rukia Isanga Nakadama, who is also the district MP, called on the Police to expedite investigations into the Cleric’s death.
“Murders of this kind have been on the rise in the district but most of them have remained unresolved. I am requesting the police to thoroughly investigate this case,” she said.
The remains of the Cleric had by press time been scheduled to be interred in his home in Kavule village in Buyemba Parish, Imanhyiro Sub County at 4 p.m.
