Yesterday the 4th of April 2023, the manager ONC SPA Hadijah Namyalo Uzieye paid a courtesy visit to His Eminence the Mufti of Uganda Shiek Shaban Ramdhan Mubaje at UMSC headquarters in Old Kampala.
The past has registered a degraded relationship between the NRM Government of Uganda and Muslims in Uganda following the worrying arrests of Muslims about security concerns. This added to the long expression of dissatisfaction of the Muslim community in the government appointments that have for long excluded Muslims from key positions.
The Mufti of Uganda congratulated the manager of the ONC and expressed gratitude to the President for entrusting a Muslim woman to run such executive roles.
He raised concern over the delayed inclusion of the Islamic Banking system in the Government Poverty Alleviation programs to transform people into better sustainable livelihood. He explained that the Islamic teaching condemns interest money “riba” and therefore Muslims can not participate in programs that contradict their religion. He added that this is not about only Muslims but all Ugandans since in countries where it is applied, there is a remarkable achievement in economic empowerment for wealth creation by ensuring safe access to funds with zero interest rates.
The SPA Hadijah Namyalo Uzeiye thanked the Mufti of Uganda for the overwhelming reception and said to have been following all the issues raised due to her rich participation in National Affairs even before the current deployment. She added “I have to bring back the support base of HE the President for especially the Bazzukulu all over the country while ensuring their participation in Government programs for social economic transformation. ” and is to urgently draw the attention of the President to all raised concerns.
She requested the Mufti of Uganda for a sustainable working relationship with the ONC and to accept a donation of food items she carried along to support the Muslim brethren in fasting the holy month of Ramadhan in fulfillment of the fourth pillar of Islam.