Government has been sued over a recent security raid on Nakasero mosque.
In their suit, filed before the High court in Kampala yesterday, the three petitioners; Siraje Nsambu Kifampa, Habib Buwembo and Musa Musuda Yusuf contend that on December 27, 2016, joint security forces comprising of the army and police personnel, raided Nakasero mosque without a search warrant and made off with an unspecified amount of cash, computers, and motorcycles, among other valuable items.
The trio holds various positions in the raided Jamu-iyyat Daawat Ssalafiyyah mosque located along Entebbe road in Kampala. They contend that as a result of the raid, Muslim faithful’s at Nakasero and other mosques across the country are living in fear.
Musuda, one of the petitioners who witnessed the raid, explains in his affidavit that the security personnel indiscriminately battered and arrested whoever was found inside before vandalising the mosque. He says to-date; the leaders still do not know what the security personnel were searching for.
The concerned Muslim faithful’s through their lawyers of Center for Legal Aid; want court to direct the government to unconditionally return all items including computers, mobile phones, motorcycles, money, documents and compact disks containing Islamic teachings that were confiscated from the mosque.
They are also seeking for compensation in form of damages following the police’s raid and also an order stopping the police operatives from carrying out further raids.
Court is expected to summon the attorney general to file in his defense before a hearing date could be fixed. But a few days after the alleged raid of Nakasero mosque, Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura said police had received vital information detailing how deadly weapons used in killing Muslim clerics were being kept in the mosque.
In a space of three days, after the storming Nakasero mosque, police raided another mosque Masjid Abubaker Sudiq Mosque located in Kiwatule.