Govt yet to guide on mode of Martyrs Day celebrations

The Catholic Church is seeking guidance from government on how to proceed with preparations for this year’s Uganda Martyrs Day celebrations due on June 3.
For the past two consecutive years, the church in consultations with the government has held scientific Martyrs Day celebrations at the Catholic and Protestant shrines in Namugongo due to the coronavirus pandemic following suspension of public gatherings.
Since the Covid-19 restrictions have been fully lifted, the Catholic Church said it hopes the government will approve the physical celebrations in big numbers.

 “We have sought the government’s guidance on the nature of the celebrations to hold. Although they have not yet responded to our request, we are optimistic that they will allow us to have a full blast of the celebrations,” Fort Portal Catholic Diocese Bishop Robert Muhiirwa said during a press conference on Wednesday.
Fort Portal Diocese has been selected to animate the Martyrs’ Day celebrations for this year at the Catholic shrine. 
Bishop Muhiirwa said they expect to host thousands of Christian pilgrimages; both local and international, at the shrine.

The celebration will be held under the theme, “Baptised and sent to witness Christ with love and hope.”
Bishop Muhiirwa during the same press conference said preparations are in high gear although they are hampered by resources.
“We received the great news on February 14, 2022, from the Uganda Episcopal Conference that our diocese (Fort Portal) will be leading this year’s celebrations at Namugongo. Due to the uncertainties of the pandemic, the news came in a bit late with a huge gap in finances,” he said.

Response from the government
In an interview with Monitor, Mr Ssuubi Kiwanuka, the deputy executive director of Uganda Media Centre, said since the celebrations are about two and half months away, “there is always a process that the government follows to guide national celebrations and to that effect, there will be communication once that procedure is finalised.”
Fort Portal Catholic Diocese has also appealed to Christians and all well-wishers for support as they seek to raise Shs1 billion which is needed to host the celebrations at Namugongo.

Bishop Muhirwa announced he had appointed Ministers Tom Butiime (Tourism) and Frank Tumwebaze (Agriculture) under the coordination of Dr Patrick Birungi, to mobilise resources for the diocese among the Kampala audience.
 “The task is enormous and demands serious preparations on the spiritual and material levels so as to profit from the pilgrimages to Namugongo whose purpose is eminently spiritual, the material dimension notwithstanding. We are organising a number of activities to march the task ahead of u, below,” he said.