In his application before the Civil Division of the High Court in Kampala, Irumba is suing the duo alongside the UMSC Secretary General Ramathan Mugalu challenging their decision dated October 11 2021 terminating him from his job on grounds that it was arrived at without any legal basis at all and therefore it’s contrary to the law and principles of natural justice.
The evidence before court shows that Irumba was sacked for causing financial loss, behaving in a manner which offended UMSC and Islam by tarnishing their name in public and as such, they say he was unbefitting of the Regional Khadi. Therefore, they wanted him to pave way for investigations on the allegations against him.
“The purpose of this Communication is to relieve you of the duties of Regional Khadi and herby terminate your services with immediate effect. You are required to handover all the office instruments to the office of the undersigned by October 15th 202, ” wrote Mubaje in his October 11th 2021 letter which is under contention.
He added that “By copy of this Communication, the Chairperson Bunyoro-Tooro Muslim Region and all government security agencies are requested to cooperate in implementation of the decision”.
Prior to Mubaje’s letter, Irumba had also been accused of illegally mortgaging commercial property belonging to UMSC in Hoima district in exchange for fuel worth millions of Shillings.
He failed to pay the creditor prompting him to secure a court order to attach and sell the council property to recover their monies. Later, the UMSC headquarters petitioned the Hoima magistrate’s court challenging the orders on grounds that Sheikh Irumba acted without authorization.
Sheikh Irumba agreed that he entered the fuel deal with the creditor in his individual capacity and consented to pay off the debt. However, in his application before Court, Sheikh Irumba contends that he was appointed by the UMSC on November 27th 2018 to start his duties on December 1st 2018 and he diligently and religiously performed his duties to the satisfaction of the UMSC Council.
Irumba says he was surprised to receive his termination letter on October 28th 2021 requiring him to handover on October 15th 2021 which was practically impossible.
He adds that the termination of his services by Mubaje individually was illegal and irregular because there was no resolution of the UMSC of the eminent Sheikhs as required under the UMSC Constitution and that there was no resolution from Majjis Al Ulama, the body that is charged with disciplinary affairs of the Sheikhs.
“The first respondent/Mubaje contradicted himself by claiming that the suspension referred to in the letter was to pave way for an investigation after a successful impeachment. It could not be successful and still require an investigation. The two are antithetical concepts”, says Irumba.
Adding that “the termination letter was based on falsehoods because the Muslim Regional Council is not mandated to conduct impeachment of Regional Khadis”.
Irumba through his lawyers of Moriah Advocates further argues that the procedures laid down in the Muslim Regional Administration Governance Guide and UMSC Human Resource Policies and Procedures manual were flouted because he was condemned fraudulently and unheard and his appeal against the suspension was also allegedly neglected.
“The termination was preceded by illegal connivance letters of the 1st respondent/Mubaje and 2nd respondent/ Mugalu who termed him as former even before termination” adds Irumba’s application.
Irumba now describes the actions of the Mufti and Mugalu as high handed and a gross abuse of their offices which call for censure by the Court by way of damages.
He also wants his termination quashed and the respondents and their agents restrained from removing him from office without due process or in the alternative, court orders them to hear his appeal.
When contacted the UMSC Spokesperson Ashraf Zziwa said he is not aware of the court case and what happened exactly. He reffered our Reporter to the Secretary General whose phone couldn’t be reached.
Sheikh Irumba has since been replaced with Sheikh Abdul Hakim Kirarira, the Kadhi Kasese Muslim district as the acting Bunyoro-Tooro Regional Kadhi.
The case is yet to be allocated to a Judge who will be fixing it for hearing.
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