Description

Tension is very high in Bushenyi district following a fight between two muslim factions that resulted into the destruction of Basajjabala Mosque in Ishaka Municipality. During the clash, more than thirty (30) people were injured and doors and windows damaged. Police had to be deployed to contain the situation. Seven people have so far been arrested as having been the masterminds to the incident. The leaders managing the mosque have been accused of mismanaging property belonging to the mosque. Conflicts involving management of mosques have been rampant countrywide in the last couple of years. In the October 2017 conflict assessment report, the SAFE program reported on a clash in Kamuli district in eastern Uganda where one person was killed after being hit with a piece of wood and several others were injured following a dispute over ownership of a mosque. Other incidents which have resulted into violent incidents have included Nakasero Mosque, Masaka Mosque, and Nateete Mosque among others. The two warring groups in Bushenyi District should be encouraged to dialogue in order to avoid the conflict from escalating. The Bushenyi-based USAID SAFE conflict monitors will continue to monitor the situation in the district and report any incidents to SAFE’s conflict monitoring database.