Sheikh Siliman Kasule Ndirangwa on Thursday stepped down as Supreme Mufti of Uganda.
Addressing the media, Sheikh Ndirangwa cited endless disagreements among the Kibuli Muslim faction leaders as reason for his resignation.
“I would like to tell you that I have resigned as the Supreme Mufti of Uganda. I have taken the decision for the good of Islam,” he said.
He added that as a leader he couldn’t keep on fighting with elders in Islam over certain issues.
“That’s why I have decided to resign so that I can also pave way for other leaders to take charge from where I have stopped.”
However, we have since learnt that, Sheikh Ndirangwa never took the decision to resign willingly rather he was forced to do so after discovering that he was going to be shamingly dismissed by the faction’s top leadership.
“When he heard that a resolution had been passed to sack him, he moved very fast to announce that he had resigned to save face,” a source told Uganda Radio Network (URN).
Reason for his sacking:
It all started when Sheikh Ndirangwa led a team of fellow clerics from the Kibuli based muslim faction to meet President Yoweri Museveni without Prince Kassim Nakibinge Kakungulu’s knowledge.
Prince Nakibinge is the titular head of Muslims in Uganda.
From the meeting, Museveni donated to them 11 four-wheel drive cars which they had allegedly asked for to ease their transport. The same number of cars was donated to the Old Kampala based leadership.
After the donation of the cars, Nakibinge reportedly ordered his people not to accept them and for more than a month, they were parked at Hotel Africana. But later these cars were distributed among the top leadership at Kibuli and they were allegedly registered in their names.
According to our source, all those who benefited from this offer are also facing the sack. Reporters who were itching to put these widely circulated claims to Kibaate were disappointed as he didn’t entertain any questions from the media, saying there will be a comprehensive statement after the College of Eminent Sheikhs has sat to forge a way forward.
The office of the Supreme Mufti was created in 2009 after a fallout with the Mufti of Uganda Sheikh Shaban Ramathan Mubajje over the sale of Muslim properties.
Sheikh Ndirangwa was named Supreme Mufti to head the Kibuli based Muslim faction in 2015.
He replaced Sheikh Zubair Kayongo who passed away in April, 2015 at Agha Khan Hospital in Tanzania.
Before becoming Supreme Mufti, Ndirangwa Served as the District Kadhi of Kampala for almost five years.
He is well known for his preaching against moral decadence in society, encouraging family bonds and reverence of God.
Sheikh Ndirangwa has been very instrumental in the struggles to bring sanity in the Muslim community that has been tainted with management wrangles.
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