KAMPALA. Haji Faruk Kirunda, the Special Presidential Assistant on Press and Mobilization also Deputy Press Secretary to H.E the President has congratulated Muslim women upon obtaining Shs2 billion revolving fund from President Museveni.
“I thank you for waiting patiently for the fund and for being hard working and united in your efforts towards self-improvement,” he said.
Haji Kirunda made the remarks Thursday during a capacity building conference for Uganda Muslim Women Council (UMWC) held at Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) Headquarters, Old Kampala. He was represented by Dr. Safinah Museene, Commissioner at the Ministry of Education and Sports.
President Museveni made a pledge of Shs2 billion to the Muslim women on 8th October 2024 during the inaugural Muslim Women’s Conference held at Old Kampala SS playground, in Kampala.
The pledge was fulfilled in September 2025 and it was handed over to the Muslim women leaders by the State House Comptroller, Ms. Jane Barekye at Okello House, Nakasero, Kampala.
In his speech, Haji Kirunda noted that the funds are not for sharing; the money is a revolving fund that must; as much as possible, be accessed by all the Muslim women in the country without discrimination.
“We have provided the guidelines to be used to manage the funds and there should be no excuse for misapplying the funds. All the Muslim regions numbering 82 should access the fund,”he emphasized.
“This fund should be a turning point for enhancing the welfare of Muslim women in Uganda, probably in new dimensions not experimented with before.”
Haji Kirunda added that the conference running under the theme of women economic empowerment for growth and sustainable development through savings and credit cooperative organizations, was a timely theme because it ties in well with one of the UMWC’s main objectives of enabling the Muslim women leaders to form self-sufficient projects that can facilitate them to save, access government funds and eliminate poverty in their midst.
On the other hand, Haji Kirunda reaffirmed that the NRM government has always advocated for freedom of worship and everyone is free to associate with the religion of their choice.
“The government also intends well for its people and would like everyone to develop evenly and to achieve in life.
I therefore urge you to support the NRM government in all ways possible and especially President Museveni as he multiplies effort and energy to sustain the gains achieved for all the Ugandans in the last 3 decades,” he said.
“I thank Hon. Kenyangi Sofia and her Executive for being committed and providing focused leadership to the Muslim Women in Uganda. Your effort has yielded well through this fund.”
The Mufti of Uganda, Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan Mubaje said currently the Muslim fraternity is celebrating the fruits of unity and the development of UMSC structures.
“We are now looking into ways of developing our communities by seeing how our mothers and sisters can fight poverty. We thank H.E the President for the support,” he said.
He also thanked President Museveni for fulfilling his Shs2 billion empowerment fund pledge to the Muslim women.
“We reviewed our constitution so that our Muslim women have structures from the grassroots and this was aimed at empowering them. We engaged H.E the President to support our Muslim women and he recently fulfilled his pledge,” Sheikh Mubaje said.
“H.E the President also offered to financially empower our Imams. It requires almost Shs50 billion and the President is willing to support those Imams to fight poverty. We are really grateful to President Museveni.”
The Mufti therefore rallied the Muslim women to reciprocate President Museveni’s good gesture by voting for him in the forthcoming elections.
The National Chairperson of Uganda Muslim Women Council, Hajjat Sofia Kenyangi Safina hailed President Museveni for fulfilling his pledge and also thanked UMSC under the leadership of Mufti Sheikh Mubaje for reviewing the constitution that led to the inclusion of women in the Muslim leadership.
“From that history, we generated our women’s structure. We had an objective of setting up 100 Muslim women SACCOs and recently the President fulfilled his pledge of Shs2 billion. We really thank him so much,” she said.
“This money is a grant from the State House, and this money is for socio-economic transformation not for eating. This money is already on your account for Muslim women.”
She urged the women to use the money well so that they become success stories.
“Each district is going to get a share of this money through a SACCO.”
Dr. Hamiat Sengendo, the Coordinator of women and Gender at the Inter Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) thanked President Museveni for the empowerment fund aimed at uplifting the livelihoods of Muslim women across the country.
“I also appreciate Hajjat Sofia and her team for bringing Muslim women together in the country,” Dr. Sengendo said.
Ms. Sarah Namugooya, the Cooperative Officer at Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) explained that President Museveni’s empowerment fund to Muslim Women SACCOs does not contravene with Islamic teachings on riba (interest).
“Whoever is telling you that this money has riba is wrong,” she said.
Ms. Sarah further clarified that the 6 percent charge per annum is not interest but a service fee for SACCO expenditure on utilities, among others.
Ms. Sarah also trained the Muslim women on how to govern and maintain their respective SACCOs.
“Without trust and transparency, a SACCO cannot go forward. You should also be accountable if you want to perform better,” she explained.
“This money is meant to help us start business or increase capital in our already existing businesses as Muslim women. If we utilise this money well, the President will add us more money. We want our SACCOs to be the best in Uganda.”
Mr. Wilberforce Waligo, a commercial officer at KCCA also underscored the crucial role of a positive mindset in doing business.
He urged the Muslim women to always exhibit a positive mindset if they want to thrive in the world.
“Some of you have a negative attitude towards work, you only think about being housewives. That’s wrong. In this age and era, we should work and improve our livelihoods. We should have a positive attitude towards making money,” Mr. Waligo noted.
“You should make good use of President Museveni’s support to fight poverty and create wealth.”