Three million pilgrims attend martyrs day celebrations

Jun 03, 2015

Tanzania had the largest number of pilgrims from a single country followed by Kenya and Rwanda. Over 2 million were in attendence

Over three million Christians converged at the Uganda Martyrs Shrine in Namugongo to celebrate Martyrs Day in remembrance of the 45 converts executed between 1885 and 1887.

According to Uganda Tourism Chief Executive Officer; Stephen Asiimwe, a record two million people from around the world were at Namugongo martyrs shrines by 9 am on martyrs day. He said police used balloons fitted with cameras to map the population density around the shrine and made calculations on the number of people per square meter.

Drinks, food and a number of consumables reportedly ran out of stock around the shrines as a result of the huge number of visitors.

Last year police estimates put the number of pilgrims at 1.5 million.

Pilgrims came from different countries including Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, DR Congo, South Sudan and beyond Africa. Tanzania had th e largest number of pilgrims from a single country with over 2,000 coming. 600 came from Kenya, 600 from Rwanda and more from other countries.

Uganda Tourism Board CEO; Stephen Asiimwe said government is developing a broader tourism strategy that is aimed at attracting more visitors and enticing them to stay in the country longer while visiting other tourism sites.

“We want Uganda martyrs celebrations to be attracting large number of people like Mecca, Jesrusalem and Rome,” said Stephen Asiimwe. “We are not only looking at martyr’s day. We want martyrs day to be a continuous daily event,” he added.

He called on the private sector to join hands with government in the development of better infrastructure to cater for all classes of pilgrims; whose number he said will continue rising each year.

The UTB boss called on government to improve on infrastructure, security and create a more enabling environment for tourists. He also urged churches improve on the infrastructure around the shrines to cater for the growing number of pilgrims.

“We want to make Uganda a faith based Africa tourism destination to compete with the likes of Saudi Arabia, Rome, Israel and Turkey,” Said Stephen Asiimwe.

A museum is under construction at the shrines.

The Uganda Muslim supreme council (UMSC) on Monday also launched a sh3b development plan for a Muslim martyrs' site at Namugongo in Wakiso district.

The council is set to construct a Mosque (Masjid Noor Namugongo martyrs), a primary School, library, guest house and a museum where they will keep the first Quran in Uganda that was given to Kabaka Muteesa I and a kettle he used to get ablution among others.

The land was donated by the former president of Uganda, Idi Amin Dada for Muslims to build a mosque in 1975 as a way of commemorating the shuhada (Muslim martyrs) killed.