The High Court in Kampala has summoned the Uganda Muslim Education Association Limited (UMEA), the Board of Governors of Kawempe Muslim Secondary School and the Attorney General to file their defence in a suit challenging who legally founded the school and the validity of its current Board of Governors.
The summons, issued by the Civil Division of the High Court, follows a suit filed by the Registered Trustees of the Juma and Zukulu Muslim Group in Uganda, who claim they—not UMEA—established the school and are therefore entitled to the legal rights of its founding body. The court has directed the respondents to file their defence within 15 days of being served with the summons.
Failure to do so could result in the case proceeding and judgment being entered in their absence. According to the suit, filed through Lukwago, Matovu & Co. Advocates, a Muslim stakeholders’ meeting at the Juma and Zukulu Muslim Group headquarters in Kawempe on March 25, 1984, resolved to establish Kawempe Muslim Secondary School. The trustees argue that they spearheaded the establishment of the school and donated about 5.3 acres of land, comprised in Kyadondo Block 208, Plot 169, on which the school was built and continues to operate.
They contend that their role in founding the school and providing the land makes them the lawful founding body under Uganda’s education laws, with the right to participate in the governance of the institution. The trustees further argue that UMEA was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee on June 20, 1995, nearly 11 years after the school had already been established.
According to the court documents, they contend that UMEA could not legally have founded an institution that already existed before its incorporation. The suit accuses UMEA of unlawfully presenting itself as the school’s founding body and using that status to participate in the appointment of successive Boards of Governors. The dispute also challenges the appointment of the current Board of Governors in 2025.
The trustees argue that they were unlawfully excluded from the appointment process despite being the school’s legitimate founding body, contrary to the Education (Pre-Primary, Primary and Post-Primary) Act and the Education (Board of Governors) Regulations. They allege several irregularities, including failure to recognise and involve them as the founding body, allowing UMEA to act in that capacity despite its later incorporation, appointing the Board without consulting the trustees and disregarding the legal procedures governing appointments.
Court documents indicate that the trustees wrote to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Sports on December 15, 2025, protesting what they described as the unlawful appointment of the Board of Governors. After receiving no response, they sent a reminder on April 15, 2026, but contend that the relevant authorities took no action to address their concerns.
The trustees say the continued recognition of UMEA as the founding body has denied them their lawful role in the governance of a school they established and on land they donated, causing loss, inconvenience, frustration and continued exclusion from its affairs. In the suit, they are seeking declarations that they are the lawful founding body of Kawempe Muslim Secondary School and that UMEA is not.
They also want the court to declare the appointment of the current Board of Governors unlawful, null and void, set aside its appointment, order the constitution of a fresh Board in accordance with the law and with the participation of the trustees, nullify all decisions made by the current Board, permanently restrain UMEA from presenting itself as the school’s founding body, and award them general damages, interest and costs of the suit.
The court documents also include a 2025 order issued under the Trustees Incorporation Act, approving the change of the organisation’s name from the Registered Trustees of the Juma and Zukulu Group in Uganda to the Registered Trustees of the Juma and Zukulu Muslim Group in Uganda, while retaining its original incorporation dating back to 1957.
The documents further show that the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Judith Nabakooba, subsequently recognised the organisation’s current trustees in accordance with the Trustees Incorporation Act. The case is yet to be heard, and the allegations contained in the suit have not yet been tested in court. The respondents are expected to file their respective defences before the matter is fixed for hearing-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
