The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Foreign Pilgrims from countries Kenya and Tanzania have taken up a task of cleaning up Namugongo, the site of the annual Uganda Martyrs Day Celebration.
The shrine was by this morning covered up in heaps of garbage comprising plastic bottles, papers and polyethene bags, which had initially been banned from the site.
The pilgrims under the Catholic Women and Men Associations embarked on the task earlier in the day by collecting, sorting and placing garbage in areas where it will later be taken by trucks to several dumping sites.
Albertina Musinga, a Kenyan pilgrim from Machakos Diocese, says that they felt challenged to leave the place cleaner than they found it. Musinga, who is making her fifth pilgrimage adds that cleaning Namugongo is a way of giving back to the lord for the favors and miracles they have received through the intercession of the Uganda martyrs.
She says that Namugongo shrines, as a holy place where the blood of the martyrs was shed, deserves to be maintained as a clean site.
Monica Mutisya, another pilgrim from Kenya, says that for all what the Lord has done for her through the Uganda martyrs, cleaning their shrines isn’t enough to offer in appreciation.
Franc Anastella, a pilgrim from Tanzania says they decided to do something productive while waiting for their departure later in the day.
The Shrines Rector, Rev Vincent Lubega who says they normally bring in industrial cleaners to clear the mess left behind was moved by the act of the foreign pilgrims. However, Rev Lubega says it will take them three or four days to completely clean up the shrines.
Meanwhile, Kampala Capital City Authority-KCCA has joined Kira Municipality Local Government to clean up the garbage left behind on several streets in the areas of Kyaliwajjala, Jjanda and Nakiyanja.
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