Kibuli Muslim faction appoints Mak’s Dr Kiggundu as spokesperson
Dr Muhammad Musoke Kiggundu. PHOTO/COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Dr Kiggundu, formerly the chairperson of Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA), will be in charge of research, public and international relations.
The parallel Muslim administration at Kibuli Hill has appointed the former Makerere University publicist, Dr Muhammad Musoke Kiggundu, as their new spokesperson.
Dr Kiggundu replaces Sheikh Nuhu Muzaata Batte, who passed on last December.
According to a press statement from the office of the Supreme Mufti –Kibuli, Dr Kiggundu, formerly the chairperson of Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA), will be in charge of research, public and international relations.
“The office of the Supreme Mufti has set itself on a steady course of development by establishing structures and systems that are attracting professional talent as exhibited by Dr Kiggundu. His appointment is effective October 1, 2021,” Sheik Twaha Mubiru, the acting secretary general said in a statement dated October 11.
Dr Kiggundu’s appointment comes at a time when the Kibuli Muslim faction is preparing to announce its new top leadership following the resignation of Supreme Mufti Sheik Silman Kasule Ndirangwa in April this year.
Insiders at Kibuli have intimated to Daily Monitor that Sheik Abdul Noor Kakande, the regional Kadhi for Greater Mukono has been tipped to become new supreme mufti. Another possible successor to Sheik Ndirangwa is Dr Abdul Hafiz Walusimbi, the head of the Sharia department at the Islamic University in Uganda. Sheik Ibrahim Ntanda, the Kampala District Kadhi is likely to become the deputy mufti, according to sources.
The Kibuli Muslim administration was created in 2009 after a section of Muslims accused the Mufti of Uganda, Sheik Shaban Ramathan Mubajje of illegally disposing of Muslim property in Kampala.
The dissatisfied group first elected the late Sheik Zubair Kayongo as its supreme mufti, but when he died in 2015, the group replaced him with Sheik Ndirangwa who resigned in April this year, leaving his deputy, Sheik Muhamood Kibatte as acting supreme mufti.
Sheik Mubajje has severally dismissed the rival Muslims as an illegitimate and unconstitutional group that lacks moral standing. He insists his opponents are opportunists who are using the sale of Muslim property as an excuse to bring him down.
Profile
Dr Kiggundu is a lecturer of Religious Education and a leading scholar of Islam at Makerere University. He attended Nabulooto Koran School up to primary five and later joined Primary Six at Kawuku Church of Uganda Primary School. He studied his Ordinary Level at Kampala High School and Advanced Level at Kibuli Senior Secondary School. After High School, he was awarded a Uganda /Algerian Scholarship and secured his Bachelor of Arts Education degree in Islamic Sciences at Emir-Abdel Kader University of Constantine – Algeria.
On return to Uganda, he obtained a government scholarship and secured his Master of Arts in Religious Studies at Makerere University, after which he was offered a teaching job at the same university. He has also taught at Nkumba University and the Islamic University in Uganda as a part time lecturer.
In 2002, he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship by the department of State of the United States Government to study religious Pluralism at the University of California, Santa Barbara. After gaining a wealth of experience in the teaching of Islamic Education, Religious pluralism, gender and development, Makerere University sponsored his PhD in Religious Studies where the research was in the area of religion, peace and conflict resolution entitled: ‘‘International Islamic fundamentalism: a case of Uganda.’’
In 2012, he trained and qualified as a trainer of Higher Education Leadership and management, offered in a joint program by the Universities of Tampere and Helsinki of Finland together with UMI and Makerere University-Uganda.
A prominent lecturer and a freelance interpreter of English, Arabic and French, Muhammad gives presentations and keynote speeches about Higher Education Leadership and Management, Islam, religious pluralism, violence, tolerance, extremism, peace and conflict resolution to Colleges, Universities, Conferences and other groups throughout the world.
He is the President of Religious Pluralism and Tolerance Initiative – Uganda Chapter (REPTI). He is currently the head of Islam and Religious Education at the Department of Humanities and Language Education, School of Education, College of Education and External Studies, Makerere University, Kampala - Uganda.
