By Silvia Nyambura
From the world over, millions of pilgrims converge in Uganda to celebrate Martyrs Day in June every year. They commemorate the lives of 45 Christian converts killed for their faith in the 1880’s by Kabaka Mwanga II.
Some pilgrims start their journey months in advance, walking from different countries in honor of these martyrs. Some local residents in the surrounding Namugongo area are known to surrender their homes to host the pilgrims.
In 2014, it is estimated that about 2 million foreign pilgrims from countries like South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria and DRC attended the event although other analysts put the figure at about 3 million.
The Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) has since identified the Uganda Martyrs Day as a key touristic feature. With the right packaging and promotion, the board believes the event can be a turn-around product for the industry and bring in more tourists.
One of the key things UTB has done is introduce the Uganda Martyrs Trail.
Building Wealth; Five Ugandan Entrepreneurs Democratizing Access to Investments.Launched in April last year at Entebbe landing site Kigungu, the trail is made up of 18 different martyr sites aimed at enriching the Martyrs day experience for the pilgrims. It also aims at addressing the objective of diversification and development of the different sites that make up the trail.
Tourism Minister Maria Mutagamba also launched the Uganda Martyrs Walk 2015 to complement the trail. This walk involved students from St. Mary’s Kisubi Seminary School on the 28th of March while a second one was held on11th of April with students from the Uganda Martyrs School Namugongo.
The purpose of the walk is to allow the pilgrims experience what the Martyrs went through and where. Seeing the sights and hearing the sounds of the birds open one’s imagination, enriching the experience.
It is believed most of the Uganda Martyrs were teenagers at the time they made the sacrifice for their beliefs.
“The flagship of the walks was with students because the youth today make up the largest number of the Uganda population. We cannot ignore their contribution in building this nation. The tourism sector majorly employs young people hence it makes sense for students to know early on what their heritage and history is,
