The Republic of Uganda is located in the eastern part of the African continent with a population close to 42 million. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, shared with Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda is in the African Great Lakes region. Uganda also lies within the Nile basin, and has a varied but generally a modified equatorial climate.
By the 19th century, people in the region met with Islam after the Arab merchants came to the lakeshore sections of the region to do ivory and slave trade, and Islam began to gain importance.
Some Europeans, who first came to the region in 1860, first discovered the source of the Nile River and initiated the colonization process in the east of Africa.
In this process, the Catholic and Protestant missionaries groups, who came to the country succeeded in the missionary activities in a short time.
After the declaration of independence from Great Britain in 1962, a majority of the population in Uganda became Muslim because the support was given by a leading Muslim president to Islam.
Later, the missionaries, who served the imperialist states, spread the Christianity after the Muslim President overthrown with a coup. After the activities of the missionaries, the Muslim population in the country has decreased, while the Christian population has increased rapidly.
According to the official figures, 85 percent of the population living in the country is Christian, while 12 percent is Muslim; local sources tell us that this ratio does not reflect the reality, which about 35 percent of the population are Muslims in the country.
The country that has been exploited by the British for many years is now under exploitation of the United States. Poverty at the highest level in the country due to the exploitation of the imperialist states... As in every expropriated country; apart from the rich, the vast majority of the population is poor people.
In the country where agriculture and animal husbandry are prevalent, workers are leaving their homes to go to work at midnight and walk for miles because they have not enough income to travel by public transport vehicles. Skilled workers work 30 dollars per month while officers receive a monthly salary of 100 dollars.
Especially people in rural areas of the country are struggling with hunger and poverty. Because of exploitation, people are still trying to keep their lives in primitive conditions in the 21st century. Finding healthy food is extremely difficult in the country.
People, who have difficulty in finding shoes, cannot take their patients to the hospital in the city center due to financial impossibilities.
Access to clean water is at the forefront of the most serious problems in the country
Access to clean water in the country is a vital precaution. Finding water especially in the rural area is a big problem... When people are struggling with many diseases due to the lack of clean water, access to clean water is a problem in itself. In villages in Uganda where villagers have to walk for kilometers to get clean water every day, thanks to the water wells that the philanthropists have opened, they are meeting a need for a watery little village.
Due to financial impossibility, families are having difficulty circumcising their children. It is often not possible to do circumcision, which is a religious act and at the same time a health and cleaning operation.
Families in Uganda perform circumcision only with the help of philanthropic institutions, especially Islamic associations and foundations from Turkiye.
On the other hand, there are elderly Muslims have not circumcised despite their age because of the financial impossibility that they cannot go to the city center.
Ugandan Muslims who are in Islamic activities in the country, where the missionaries' activities are at the highest level, are also carrying out Islamic activities and studies in very difficult conditions. Because there are no masjids or mosques in most rural areas, Muslims worship under a few trees and pieces of cloth laid on them.
The name of Africa brings to mind such thoughts as poverty, hunger, slavery, exploitation. In Uganda, it is possible to see how barbaric the imperialist states are against those who are not from them.
Ugandan people who are oppressed because of exploitation from underground and over all the riches of the people talked to ILKHA microphones and told about their troubles. Ugandans stressed that they survive in very difficult conditions; also urged the Muslim population in Turkiye.
"We want the voices of the oppressed people to be heard"
In the village of Entalike, 183 kilometers from the city of Kamuli in Uganda, Ugandan imam Hasan Ereman described the troubles they experienced as follows:
"We are usually engaged in agriculture. The villagers make their living that way. The most important basic need here is school, water, and mosque. We do not want food or anything else to be given to us. People in here need for education and water. In addition, there is a need for a structure like a school, madrasah in order for the Muslim families there to have religious education for their children. Newly Muslim brothers have the need of circumcision. We want people in Turkiye to hear the voice of oppressed people here. I hope the necessary support at this point needs we expect our Turkish brothers. "
"A person's livelihood is around a dollar"
Ugandan Abdullah Vaga, who is trying to make a living for his family by working in agriculture, says that he has been working on Islamic services in his spare time.
Underlining that living in Uganda is very difficult, Vaga said, "Here a person's daily life is about $ 1 a day. Because the economy is not stable, sometimes it exceeds a dollar. Therefore, serious problems are experienced here. We cannot afford it when hospital expenses are incurred because of the low income. Because of the climate change, we are also having a hard time about when the crop will be harvested and when seeds will be planted. It is very difficult for the families to live because it is this way."
"We expect support from our Muslim brothers and sisters"
Expressing that the region will develop more if they have possibilities, Vaga said:
"The people of this place should work harder. We do not have any tools except for the shovel and we are trying to dig up enough of our power with this dug. However, if we have a tractor in our possession, we can harvest wider areas, and generate more revenue from them. If a mosque and well open here, it will be a step in the development. The tractor will be a step forward. In this way, the provinces will be able to develop more and get revenues. Some floors around here are very hard. We are digging in some areas and reaching the water; but there are stones, large rocks in the grounds of some areas. We expect support from our Muslim brothers in order to overcome those rocks. Drilling machines will make a great job here if possible to bring it here. Using this machine, the water needs will be met."
"The Muslim population is getting growth here"
In Uganda, Vaga remarked that the Muslim population is growing very seriously. "21 people were honored by Islam with the opening of a masjid. Non-Muslims are also familiarizing in Islam when Muslims open masjids, open water wells and distribute clothes. They are asking imams questions about Islam. I hope that they will be honored with Islam. We see the activities of Muslims in Turkiye are also winning the heart of non-Muslims here. In this occasion, we expect the support of the Muslims."
ILKHA