Namugongo martyrs day

Security

This time round, security had been tightened by Police and Special Force Command (SFC) in fear of attack by terrorist and also anyone entering the shrines had to be screened for Ebola; the deadly hemorrhagic fever. But if entering the shrines was slow but orderly, departing after the service was fleeing the gates of hell. And pilgrims who left the shrine with hope of returning were shocked when security blocked their return.

Long queues

Most of the pilgrims walked long distances, day and night.

This year, the queues into the shrines stretched as far as the nearby town of Kyaliwajjala; about five kilometres from the shrines. Not surprisingly, many pilgrims were not yet in the shrines by the time mass started. Many were held up in the queues while many others sought different routes into the two shrines. In the end, as has happened before, many pilgrims failed to enter the church compound.

This time at the Catholic shrine, the Eucharistic celebration was led by the Rev. Dr. John Baptist Odama, the archbishop of Gulu.

At the Anglican shrine, the service was presided over by Bishop Stanley Ntagali, the Archbishop of Uganda and Jackson Ole Sapit, the archbishop of Kenya as the main preacher.

About the martyrs

The Uganda Martyrs were a group of about 45 young Christian converts killed for their faith between the 1885 and 1887 on the orders of Kabaka Daniel Basamulaekere Mwanga II of Buganda kingdom. The king took offense in the conversion of his servants by the missionaries and ordered their execution.

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