QUESTIONS WE MUST ASK ABOUT THE IUIU SITUATION

Assalaam alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu.

There is a lot that has been and will be said about the recent new appointments to the IUIU University Council. Focus has been on the rather contentious appointment of, especially, Brother Mahir Balunywa, our fellow forumist and younger energetic and most eloquent bother, whose earlier postings on this group did raise a few eye brows, as they focussed more on the person of his elder brother, Dr. Ahmad Ssengendo, accusing him of certain things that cannot be dignified with a repeat here.

My personal views on my younger brother Mahir Balunywa are irrelevant here, although he knows how much I admire and respect his energy and boldness, which, if nurtured well and tempered with Taqwa (fear of Allah) and  perhaps a conscious effort on his part to seek deeper understanding of the Holy Qur’an and its sublime teachings, sure will serve him in the future, inshAllah.

So, whereas the Government of the Republic of Uganda has the right to appoint any three Members to the IUIU Council (the other two, who, when added to the three make five,  are the Minister of Education and Minister of Foreign Affairs or their representatives), some on this forum and others outside it think that it was not proper to appoint someone who clearly had personal issues with  Br. Dr. Ssengendo, the Rector of the University.  The University Council is the supreme governing body of the University responsible for overall administration of the university and for ensuring the due implementation of the objects and functions of the university.So tension in the council must impact on the University’s performance as an institution.

However, matters seem to be more complex than they seem. We are receiving reports that perhaps the new IUIU University council may not have to deal with Dr. Ssengendo after all.

Reports yet to be verified as documentation is awaited, indicate that a group of people convinced H.E. the President of Uganda to write to the Secretary General of the OIC asking him to remove the Rector Dr. Ahmad Kaweesa Sengendo and Vice Rector/Academic Dr. Mouhamad Mpezamihigo  from the University, ostensibly on security grounds and due to the fact that the two are allegedly founder members a political party in the opposition. It is also reported that Hon. Kiyingi travelled,  to personally deliver the letter to the OIC Secretary General.

As a Minister responsible for the University, however, he ought to have known that the powers to remove the Rector or anybody else for that matter from the university do not lie with the OIC Secretary General. It was therefore kind of a diplomatic embarrassment to advise the Head of State to sign a letter that was obviously motivated by personal vendetta and intrigues among some Muslim elite with interest in the University.

It is reported that in his meeting with Hon. Kiyingi, the Secretary General expressed the highest respect he has for H.E. the President recognizing the invaluable contribution he has made in the development of university. He however politely advised the Hon. Minister on how the system works. He referred him to the University Council of which his Ministry or he himself is a member. While Hon. Kiyingi is not yet grounded in the workings of diplomacy, this error of judgement that he and his group had made was not lost on him.

So there are  questions  that must be addressed at the highest level:

1. Is it true that the President of Uganda wrote to the OIC Secretary General asking him to remove Dr.  Ahmad Kaweesa Ssengendo and Dr. Mouhamad Mpezamihigo from IUIU?

2. If he did, did he act on correct information or was he misled?

3. If he was misled, who misled him and who is to be held responsible for the predictable fall out from this action which is going to create tension between  a large section of the Muslim Community and the President of Uganda and his government?. Already, perhaps in desperation, the discourse in some mosques last Friday point to a ‘conspiracy’ from certain quarters unfriendly to Islam and Muslims, to sabotage Muslim development in Uganda and parallels are openly being drawn between the events that led to the closure of Greenland Bank and this current IUIU uncertainty. Few Muslims in Uganda and elsewhere believe that  closing Greenland Bank was an act of goodwill. I don’t see Muslims in Uganda watch as  yet another pride of the Muslim Community is dragged down the path of disrepute and eventual extinction.

4. If the information that the President acted upon is indeed ‘accurate’ and that the two are a ‘security risk’ because they are allegedly founder members of an opposition political party in Uganda, what precedent does this set for the future of higher education in Uganda?  Shall it become the norm that heads of Universities in Uganda be required to be card carrying members of the ruling party? Can the supply of higher education be sustainably subjected to politics?  Not as important but worth contemplating, is an opposition party registered in the Republic of Uganda, an unlawful association?

I think that government may have to clear the air on these matters, as a matter of urgency. Meanwhile,  all effort is being made by us, to verify the reports that we have received. The IUIU University council can be changed, according to the Islamic University in Uganda Act (1990, cap 103). This is not in dispute.

For the record, let us state the following facts that may guide us in our subsequent debate. 

The new government appointees to the IUIU Council are as follows:

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–          Prof. Mukwanason Hyuha      – Vice Chairman

–          Mr. Mahir Balunywa                – Member

–          Hon. Asuman Kiyingi              – Member

They replaced the following members who have served on the Council for different periods:

– Hon. Ali Kirunda Kivejjinja             – Vice Chairman

– Hon. Lubega Kaddunabbi             – Member

– Hon. Huda Oleru                             – Member

According to the Islamic University in Uganda Act (1990, cap 103), the University Council is the supreme governing body of the University responsible for overall administration of the university and for ensuring the due implementation of the objects and functions of the university. It is composed of seventeen members appointed as follows;

(a)  Five persons appointed by the Secretary General of the OIC from among persons who are Muslims of outstanding academic and scientific attainment and also from among Muslims who are considered to be eminent personalities in the Muslim world in each case irrespective of their nationalities;
(b) Five persons appointed by the government of Uganda;

(c) The Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation; or a Senior Official of the general secretariat appointed by the Secretary General.

(d) The Chairperson of the Permanent Council of the Islamic Solidarity Fund or the Chairperson’s representative who shall be a member of the permanent council;

(e) The Chairperson of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council or the chairperson’s representative;

(f) The University Rector who works as secretary to the council;

(g) The Vice Rector responsible for academic matters;

(h) The leader of the university’s students’ guild.

Of the five persons appointed by the government of Uganda two are Ministers responsible for Foreign Affairs and Education respectively or their representatives. Three members are selected from among the Muslims in Uganda who are considered to be eminent personalities. 

Wabillahi tawfiq.

omar

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