Arua High Court Says UMSC Has Case To Answer

Arua High Court has cleared the faction of Muslims against the leadership of Arua district Kadhi, Sheik Ahmed Amin Maga to go ahead with the case they have filled against the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council and the district Kadhi.

The Muslim group through their lawyers from Manzi Odama and company advocates petitioned the high court in Arua to issue an injunction stopping the district Kadhi from holding the office accusing him of corruption, incompetence and tribalism.

Earlier on, the group had petitioned the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council to sack the district Kadhi over the same allegations but an investigation team instituted by the Mufti of Uganda Sheik Shaban Mubajje cleared him of any wrong doing.

Following the clearance, the unsatisfied group led by Ismail Angulibo and three others petitioned the high court to order the Kadhi out of office and stop the implementation of the findings of the probe committee before hearing of the main application to have the Kadhi sacked is heard.

The group also asked court to order the election of an interim district Kadhi to manage the affairs of Arua Muslim district and disband the entire executive of the UMSC in Arua.

But in his defense, the district Kadhi who was represented by Opar Donge argued that UMSC has no case to answer as the allegations raised by the group have already been addressed by the UMSC constitution. According to him, if they are not satisfied, the same constitution can still be used to address their grievances. He asked court to dismiss the application.

In his ruling, Justice Yassin Nyanzi concurred with the petitioners’ lawyer saying that both the accused parties have a case to answer. He said the issues raised by the complainants are grave and if not address by the court can lead to civil disobedience which is not good. He adjourned the hearing of the main application to February 16th 2012.