The Tabliq community of Muslims (Jamuiyyat Da’awa Assalafiyya(JDS) is up in arms with police demanding for the release of their leader Sheikh Yhaya Mwanje who was recently arrested in relation to the assassination of Maj. Mohammad Kiggundu who was gunned down together with his body guard by unknown people in Matuga.
Through their lawyers Muwema & Co Advocates, the group has written to the Director of Public Prosecution, DPP Mike Chibita seeking his intervention to stop what they termed as illegal police detentions and incessant violation of their client’s rights.
In a letter dated December 16th, the lawyers indicate that their client Sheikh Mwanje and his Muclim Tabliq community feel targeted by the Uganda police which has taken to unjustly arresting and detaining them following the recent murder of Maj. Kiggundu.
“On the 27th day of November 2016, the police arrested Sheikh Yahaya Mwanje on claims that he was involved in the recent murder of Maj. Mohammad Kiggundu. He was detained at Nalufenya Police Station in Jinja where he continues to be held without charge” part of the letter reads.
The letter seen by this site adds that; “The Muslim Tabliq sect community in Uganda is now living in uncertainty and extreme fear for their safety and they feel discriminated against by the Uganda Police. They don’t feel that their rights and freedoms guaranteed under the law are protected. The situation doesn’t portend well for the rule of law.”
Meanwhile at their Mosque in Nakasero, the Muslims told the press that the manner in which their leaders were arrested is dehumanizing, humiliating, intimidating and unprofessional.
The group’s publicist Kifampa Siraje Nsambu pointed out to the media that Muslim wrangles have existed since the inception of Islam in Uganda, that there has never been a single instance of Muslims killing one another like the government portrays it in order to justify its actions against Muslims.
He argues that it is the duty of government to protect the lives and properties of all Ugandans regardless of their religious affiliations, something Muslims have not been allowed luxury of.
