Sheikh Kiggundu: A rebel who became UPDF Major, spymaster

Kampala- After surviving two previous assassination attempts, Maj Mohammad Kiggundu, 52, a puritanical Muslim leader; a prominent Sheikh and a reformed rebel leader, was yesterday morning gunned down alongside his body guard in Masanafu, a Kampala suburb.

Maj Kiggundu and his bodyguard, Sgt Stephen Mukasa, were shot dead by unknown masked attackers, who, according to the various eyewitnesses, were riding on a boda-boda.

The police authorities were, however, quick to blame the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a terrorist organisation they declared neutralised following the arrest of its pitiless leader, Jamil Mukulu, in April.

Who is Sheikh Kiggundu?
Maj Kiggundu was born on January 26, 1964, to Hajj Ahmad Tamale and Hajjat Tamale of Namagoma village, Nsangi Parish, Wakiso District. At the age of 13, he joined Bilal Primary School –Bwaise and later Bilal Islamic SS, where he graduated as a sheikh.

As a budding Muslim cleric, Kiggundu started preaching and leading Juma sermons while still at school and loved boxing as a game to a level of winning medals at the national level. After the 1986 Bush War that brought the current government to power, Maj Kiggundu started engaging fully in Islamic preaching, more so teaching children basic Islamic principles through Madrasa sessions at a mosque in Madirisa Zone near one of his homes at Makindye, a city suburb.

Imam Ahmad Sulaiman Kyeyune, a brother in law of the deceased said: “He [Kiggundu] has been a unifying factor even during this time when Muslim youth are divided. MajKiggundu has been meeting key people in all the warring factions.” He added: “I started knowing Sheikh Kiggundu in the late 1980s after he got married to one of my sisters.

He has been a very kind man and he paid my school fees from Senior One to Senior Six. His demise is really a very big blow to the family, Muslim community and the country as a whole.”

Muslim sects
In the late 1980s, Maj Kiggundu came so close to leaders of the Tabliq Muslim sect, which had its base at William Street Mosque in the heart of the city. This group was then led by jailed Tabliq leader Sheikh Kamoga.

Maj Kiggundu, the husband to Ms Slyvia (Sophia) Namutebi alias Maama Fiina, was also a serving UPDF officer attached to Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) and an open-minded Muslim scholar.

He was one of the founders of the Tabliq factions in the 1990s, a sect of puritanical Muslims whose members to date portray themselves as evangelists.

After the March 22, 1991 attack on Old Kampala Mosque in which four policemen were killed, Maj Kiggundu and others, including Sheikh Yunus Kamoga, who was accused of masterminded the attack, fled the country.

A group of young Muslim men and women — Tabliqs twice stormed Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) offices at the Agha Khan Mosque on Namirembe Road in the afternoon to forcefully remove the elected Mufti [Sheikh Ibrahim Saad Luwemba], whom they branded a “moving dead”, who deserved not to lead a Muslim community.

During the second attack (1991), more than 400 Tabliqs, including Jamil Mukulu [ADF leader] were reportedly arrested and unsuccessfully charged with murder.

Maj Kiggundu, formerly the Emir or leader for Kampala District, fled to Kenya in 1996. Without delving into the details, he explained that he left the country because his life was in danger.

While in exile, he joined the Uganda National Freedom Army/ Movement (UNFA/M), a cloistered rebel group linked to Jamil Mukulu’s Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). He was the chairman of the group they formed in 1993.

However, in July 2000, Maj Kiggundu and others applied for amnesty and later returned to Kampala from the neighbouring Kenya.

Previously, Maj Kiggundu and others spent some time in Sudan as they negotiated their return with President Museveni’s government.

When the government granted UNFA/M rebels amnesty, Maj Kiggundu and Sheikh Kamoga, the Tabliq leader who denies links to the rebel group and is currently on trial alongside other sheikhs over claims that they participated in the killing of high-profile Muslim clerics in the country, returned home.

Sunday Monitor understands that Maj Kiggundu’s return and that of other Tabliq leaders linked to rebel activities, was brokered by the then Amnesty boss Alhajji Burhan Ganyana Miiro, Mr Richard Karemire, who was Uganda’s envoy in Khartoum, Sudan, and the then presidential advisor on political affairs, Hajat Anuna Omari from Arua District.

Kiggundu joins UPDF
At the pinnacle of the behind the scenes amnesty deals, this newspaper in 2000 reported how 12 rebel leaders reportedly held a meeting at the former Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) in Kampala to “make suggestions to the DMI now CMI on how to improve their working and living conditions”.

In the meeting, it was agreed that for the sake of peace in the country, the likes of Maj Kiggundu be re-integrated in the army to encourage the other rebels to respond to the government amnesty call.

Maj Kiggundu, in spite of his military connections, as one of the illustrious Muslim scholars in the country, at the Market Street Mosque, the headquarters of a rival Tabliq group, worked closely with Sheikh Hassan Ibrahim Kirya, the former spokesperson of the Kibuli Muslim faction, who shot dead last year in similar circumstances. Others include Sheikh Abdul-Kariim Ssentamu (RIP), Sheikh Idris Lwazi (RIP), Sheikh Abdul-Hakiim Ssekimpi (RIP), Sheikh Yahya Mwanje, Sheikh Muhamood Kibaate and Sheikh Mustafa Bahiga, who was also gunned down by unknown assailants.

Although he is a known Muslim cleric, his intelligence assignments in the army limited his time for religious undertakings. He also engaged in business, and was one of the directors in Fridaws Tours and Travel located near Nakasero Market.

While in the army, he maintained his cooperation with Muslim clerics and could once in a while lead Juma sermons at various mosques in the city. He was also sponsoring a programme on Pearl FM, a Muslim-founded station, called Mimbali Special, where he used to preach Muslim unity.

By the time of his death, Maj Kiggundu was subscribing to a Tabliq faction led by Dr Haruna Jjemba, which is a break away from the mainstream Tabliq sect headed by Sheikh Yunus Kamoga .He survived by three widows and 12 children.