SOROTI, UGANDA: The National Chairman of Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, Professor Dr Muhamadi Lubega Kisambira has rallied Muslims in Teso and Karamoja to embrace unity in diversity and development.
Prof Lubega made this call while presenting a paper at the Ateker Muslim Development Foundation (AMDEF) 2nd Annual Ramadan Convention held at Widows Hall in Soroti City on 18th April 2023, where called upon Muslims to shun divisions arising from minor differences of opinion.
“The things that usually divide us are minor: So and so has a long beard, so and so has a short pair of trousers, desist from these, because at the end of the day, what matters is the ‘kalima’ that we believe in only one God.” Dr Lubega said.
The convention was attended by close to 600 leaders including Muslim leaders i.e. Imaams, Sheikhs, district Kaadhis, youths and women representatives from the Teso-Karamoja Muslim region, among others.
He implored them to uphold the principles of transparency and accountability as catalysts for development.
Relatedly, the Professor advised the Muslim district leaders to create information management systems in order to generate data for planning purposes.
“You cannot do planning without data”, said Prof. Lubega, urging them that they could do a census of Muslims taking row data from the mosque level, to feed the country with accurate and unbiased figures. In the same vein, he decried the low statistics given to Muslims in Uganda arguing that, according to their own projections, they were now standing at about 14 million.
The Chairman also challenged Muslim Districts to establish at least three health centres and a vocational institution in each district as well as transform agriculture to spur development. He reiterated the commitment of UMSC and H.E the Mufti to supporting and having affirmative action for the North Eastern Muslim Region.
Dr Lubega later in his presentation, generously donated five million shillings to AMDEF, directing three towards financing the Convention budget and two to boost the Imaam’s SACCO, sending the hall to ecstatic chants of Allahu Akbar (God is the Greatest).
The philanthropic Professor also offered three scholarships to North Eastern Muslim District to study any of the Certificate in Nursing, Certificate in Midwifery, Certificate in Pharmacy and Certificate in Medical Laboratory Technology at Lubega Institute of Health Sciences, further sending the delegates into ululations and jubilations.
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