IslamicFinance.de

Finance Minister Matia Kasaija has said that whereas Bank of Uganda still has challenges, it should work around the clock to quickly resolve the pending establishment of Islamic Banking. Mr Kasaija said that, as government, they had done their job to pass the law and it was now the work of the Central Bank to operationalise the Shari'a-based banking system. In 2016, government enacted the law that would introduced Islamic Banking, agent banking and bancassurance, among other products. However, whereas other products have already been established, implantation of Islamic Banking continues to be delayed.

According to the Minister of Finance, Mr Matia Kasaija, no amount of opposition will stop the operationalisation of Islamic Banking in Uganda because it has already kicked off. He is the one who signed the instruments operationalising it and he said Ugandans should stop associating it with terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism. During their annual general meeting last Saturday the Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) resolved to lobby against the implementation of Islamic Banking. The Christian bishops speculated that Muslims could be using Islamic Banking as a bait to lure Christians into Islam. This drew a backlash from Muslim leaders, who warned the bishops to refrain from mobilising against Islamic Banking and advised them to seek knowledge from Ministry of Finance or Bank of Uganda rather than undermining it through the media.