Muslim leaders in Uganda held a regional conference in Kampala from March 26 to 27 on prevention programs and discussions on countering violent extremism in the East African region.
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The two day conference, which was organized by the Muslim Centre for Justice and Law (MCJL) in partnership with U.S Embassy in Kampala, was held under the theme ‘A Regional Muslim Civil Society Conference on Framework for Cooperation.’ The conference also attracted Muslim leaders from neighboring countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia and Zanzibar.
The Uganda Episcopal Conference Executive Secretary for Interreligious Dialogue and Ecumenism, Fr. Vincent Karatunga represented the Catholic Secretariat as an invited guest.
The conference was held a few weeks before the deadly Garissa University College attacks which saw 147 people killed by Al-Shaabab, an extremist group from Somalia.
The attack which is the worst in the East African region in history since the American Embassy Bombings in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 1998 when the actions of terrorists affiliated with Al Qaeda ushered in a new era that caused the whole world to point fingers at followers of Islam whenever a terrorist attack takes place. Since then, Muslim activists have spearheaded efforts to eradicate the perception that Islam is a violent or extreme religion.
The MCJL president, Mr Jaffer Senganda, the head of Islam and Religious Education at the Department of Humanities and Language Education, Makerere University in Kampala, Dr Kiggundu Muhammad, the Kenya Muslim Human Rights Association Mr Yusuf Hussein, Mr Abdi Abdul Fatah from Somalia and Mr Hamisi Mvindi from Tanzania among others were some of the facilitators. The Minister without Portfolio (in-charge of Political Mobilization), Hon. Abraham Byandala was the Chief Guest.
In his speech Mr Senganda told the gathering that the importance of the conference was twofold. “The first one is to reignite the Muslim civil society organizations (CSO) in the region to proactively address issues of concern to the community. The second reason is to see how our young regional Muslim CSO can synergize, peer learn and cooperate with each other thus, creating a regional Muslim civil society frame work cooperation,” said Mr Senganda.
He further urged the Muslim civil society in the EA region to learn from each other’s experience and find the best practices to combat different societal challenges including violent extremism, which is currently a major threat. “We need to come out to condemn violent extremism committed in the name of Islam as it is in Europe and the U.S. This has painted a negative picture to our dear religion as in most cases the actions of the minority are over amplified at the expense of the voices of the majority due to poor organization,” he stated.
Dr Kiggundu attributed poverty, poor government policies, unemployment and liberalization of the interpretation of the Holy Koran as the leading causes of the high rise of violent extremism groups in the region.
He said, “Since most East Africans live in poverty, such communities are prone to be used by any philosophy as long as they get money hence Islam has been mis-used. This is something not just speculated as we have seen how extremists in the Middle East recruit young Muslims. Besides, poor government policies both regional and internal provoke some of these groups. If we can engage our youth and get them more active, we are leaving them less vulnerable.”
Dr Kiggundu also condemned Muslims who misinterpret the Koran in the name of religion and urged the government to shut down Madrasa which practice such things. “The Koran provides rules and laws that are very clear but some people want to interpret it upside down. All we do must be done in the name of God but not turn religion into evil faith. If we can get ourselves together we can fight this because it not written anywhere in the Koran to kill your neighbor,” he explained.
Hon Byandala requested the gathering to be on the look-out and asked the leaders to also target online radicalization since it could be the most effective strategy for Muslims aiming to combat extremism.
By Jacinta W. Odongo; Media Officer, Uganda Episcopal Conference