Religious tourism in Uganda has a huge potential to draw in millions of tourists all year around for various faith-based excursions and pilgrims but this hasn’t been fully harnessed yet, says Joshua Kitakule, Secretary General Inter-Religious Council of Uganda.
Sighting huge masses that flock countries like Saudi Arabia for the Hijja, the countless visitations to Jerusalem and Mexico’s Basilica of Guadalupe which is the most visited Catholic sanctuary among others, Kitakule noted that the same can be done for Uganda with the right marketing tools.
He made these remarks on Friday during the launch of the Uganda Martyrs Trail in the Central circuit starting from the Munyonyo Martyrs Shrine to the better known and visited Namugongo Shrine.
The initiative is spearheaded by the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda’s Tourism Center with private sector partners including the Africa Global Peace Foundation.
Journey to Martyrdom; the starting point
Before it became Munyonyo Martyrs’ Shrine, it was King Mwanga’s palace where orders for the execution of the Christian converts were given. At Munyonyo, the journey to martyrdom began for many and for some, their deaths came right after, only a stone’s throw away from the King’s court.
The young Christians would then embark on the 2-day journey to Namugongo from Wednesday May 26th 1886 to Thursday May 27th 1886. Those who survived the torture along the way and within the jail cells at Namugongo were burnt alive on June 3rd, 1886.
“That’s why this Martyrs Trail begins right here at Munyonyo where the execution orders were given,” Kitakule said.
A tourism gem
Organized by the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU), the event kicked off at Munyonyo Martyrs grounds with scores of participants taking a tour of the various sites and monuments before proceeding to St. Matia Mulumba Catholic Parish then Namugongo.
Namugongo, the climax of the trail, has the Catholic and the Anglican Martyr shrines, both richly crafted to embody the journey to martyrdom through sculptures, museums and monuments.
According to IRCU’s Rev. Can. Grace Kaiso, the Martyrs Trail is one of the Council’s initiatives geared towards attracting more people into Uganda under the Uganda Martyrs faith mark.
“There are so many relic sites, monuments and museums along this central trail including the exact points where these martyrs met their death. We have trained tour guides who are well-equipped with the information on all these sites so the visitors will appreciate the significance of the excursion,” Canon Kaiso said.
Speaking at the event, Lazarus Okurut, the Programs officer, Tourism Center- Inter-religious Council of Uganda said the initiative aims at developing religious tourism to bolster economic yield for communities.
“We want tour operators to be able to develop different packages so that people from all over the world come to Uganda and visit various sites of religious essence. We want religious tourism to have a great economic impact so that communities and people along the tourism value chain can benefit from this resource,” Okurut said.
Rev. Fr. Canice Enyiaka, the Regional Representative for Africa Global Peace Foundation emphasized the need to aggressively market what the country is already known for if religious tourism is to take root.
Africa’s Grandest Statue of Jesus
Among the other developments lined up to further market Uganda’s religious tourism is the proposed 16-meter statue of Jesus which will be atop a new chapel at the Munyonyo shrine.
According to the Parish Priest Rev Fr Ulman Male, Munyonyo has come a long way from a less talked about bushy church to a Minor Basilica with chapels and other sites developed to keep the legacy of the Uganda Martyrs.
Fr. Male says the 16-meter tall statue will be the grandest in Africa and will be a viewed from major points in Munyonyo and the Entebbe environs.
“We want people driving from the Airport to be able to marvel at this statue and in a way be welcomed to Uganda by Jesus. It is going to be a major landmark that sells Uganda’s faith-based tourist under the flagship of the martyrs,” he said.
In a post on X, the Inter-Religious Council further noted thus, “Religious tourism is one of the major sources of revenue in countries like Turkey and Israel. Globally, we know there are some people who know Uganda because of the Uganda Martyrs. Therefore, the Uganda Martyrs’ Trail is one of the initiatives of the Council to promote to promote faith-based tourism.”
About the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda
Founded in 2001, the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU), is an indigenous, national faith-based organization uniting efforts of religious institutions to jointly address issues of common concern.
Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) is a network organization that works through its leadership and structures to mobilize and organize Ugandans to work for harmony, unity, peace, prosperity, good health and freedom for the common good.