Muslims, Tooro Kingdom mourn Muammar Gaddafi

Philip Winyi Tooro Kingdom Foreign Affairs Minister

This is a very unfortunate moment for Tooro Kingdom because Col. Gaddafi was a special friend of Tooro. He has been one of the guardians of King Oyo and he has been extremely helpful to the young king and his sister. Everybody knows his contribution to the rehabilitation of the palace, a cultural symbol for the people of Tooro. In spite of what many see as his weaknesses, he has done quite a lot for Africa contributing to the building of infrastructure.

Obviously Tooro will miss him. He has been one of the proponents of a united Africa even though some have criticised this for thinking early. If Africa had a continental government and army, Europeans and Americans would not have a free ride from Cairo to Cape Town removing governments as they wish. Col. Gaddafi was a visionary and did what he could to realise this dream for Africa. Now that he is gone, Africa should learn.

In the past 10 years we were able to meet him at a personal level and we found him to be a very simple man. We saw the human side of him not Gaddafi the Colonel or the proverbial terrorist as the Americans and Europeans described him. To the West, in the last four decades, Gaddafi was seen as a terrorist. The cultural leaders and kings across the Africa, whom he assisted to form a forum, will miss him.

Hajj Nsereko Musumba, spokesman of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council
Islamic teachings tell us that whatever has a beginning shall always have an end. And according to the holy word, nothing can happen unless Allah has declared it so. Also, we cannot forget that good people are always persecuted. Even Jesus was persecuted and crucified and so have other God’s messengers. This is how God prepared his life. Whether he did good like building a mosque here in Uganda or did bad or whatever, he was created by God and Allah said whichever has a beginning has to have an end.

Peter Mayiga Buganda Kingdom Information Minister
Col. Gaddafi fell because of his misrule. The only thing we should remember is that leaders should govern mindful of their actions because if they don’t, they will end up like Col. Gaddafi. He got a lot of money from oil but it was misused by his cronies as his people suffered and there was no democratic governance in Libya. For us in Buganda, we didn’t participate in his programmes with cultural leaders on the continent.

He dismantled the monarchy in Libya so we could not understand how he had become the champion of cultural institutions. His was a crusade aimed at satisfying his ambition to become supreme president of Africa under a continental government. He thought the cultural institutions, with their strong followings, could help him in that endeavour. As Buganda Kingdom, we were not satisfied that his intentions were really genuine.

Habib Kagimu businessman with close ties to Libya
I am very sad to see that a man like Col. Gaddafi has been killed in such circumstances. The sad thing about it all is the blood that has been spilled in Libya throughout this time. My only hope is that his death can lead to peace and Libyans sit down together for a better future of their country. Allah tells us that everyman however great must have an end but that end must have a meaningful purpose.

If his death can lead to the end of spilling of bloodshed, then perhaps it can have meaning. But if he dies in vain, then Libya can easily turn into a failed state like Somalia. I first got to know Col. Gaddafi in 1973 when I was student studying in Libya. I studied in Libya, I got married in Libya and what has hurt me most is seeing Libyans killing each other. I have known Libyans to be peaceful people. What has since happened is simply unbelievable. If they do not unite now and work as one, they will easily end up as a failed state. Siad Barre died and he died with Somalia. I hope Gaddafi has not died with Libya.

egyezaho@ug.nationmedia.com