The Anglican Uganda Martyrs Museum almost ready

The  Uganda Martyrs Museum Namugongo (Anglican) in Kira Town Council East of Kampala is almost ready and will soon be open to the public. This was revealed by His Grace Dr. Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyooyo (Archbishop Emeritus of the Province of the Church of Uganda) the Chairman of the Namugongo Martyrs Museum Committee on Wednesday  11th November 2015.

Archbishop Emeritus, the Most Rev. Dr. Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyooyo
Chairman of the Uganda Martyrs Museum development
Committee inspecting the ongoing works

Dr. Nkoyooyo said that they have been able to raise the necessary funds for the first phase of the project. "We are now finishing plastering the walls and tomorrow we shall start on painting" he said.  The contractors have already started laying tiles inside the Museum hall.

Workers making final touches on the Uganda Martyrs Museum
 Namugongo at the exact place where both the Anglican and
 Catholic Martyrs were burnt by Mukajanga at the orders of
Kabaka Mwanga on 3rd June 1886

By the time I checked on the progress of the work at this Museum, the artists were busy making final changes on the artifacts depicting the whole process of martyrdom at this place that was started by Ssekabaka Kyabaggu of Buganda in 1760. History has it that Namugongo was the main execution site where all people who defied the Kabaka's orders in Buganda. The Archbishop said that people who were always being taken to Namugongo for execution would be tied on ropes and the executioners would pull the victims on their backs and many would reach Namugongo when they were already dead. It is based on that act that the locals started referring to victims were always taken to that place to be executed "oyo yazze namugongo" meaning that one came on his back.

Archbishop Nkoyooyo revealed that within the next two weeks the Museum will be  ready and when Pope Francis visits Uganda, he will be able to see the whole process the Uganda Martyrs went through. Pope Francis will be at this site on Saturday 28th November 2015 at 8:30am.

The place where firewood used to be kept

At the site, the artists under the Global Youth Artists are busy making final touches to the sculptures depicting the road to martyrdom. There's a place where  the soldiers used to keep firewood to be used for burning the prisoners. There's a prison, Mukajanga's command post, there are also sculptures that show the way the martyrs were dragged on their backs all the way. There's also  scene at the Ndazabazadde tree where they were tied before they were burnt in the inferno.

Mukajanga at his command post

A soldier pulls a victim on his back

The prison where the martyrs were held before they met their death

torture at the Ndazaabazadde tree

The fire place where the martyrs were burnt from

The lower part of the museum is where you find the small Church built by Owekitiibwa Kisosonkole former Katikkiro of Buganda, who donated this land to the Church. It is in this small Church, where the ashes and bones of the martyrs were buried under the altar.

The old church structure

Inside the Church at the Alter where the bones and ashes
of the martyrs were burried

A pulpit donated by Kabaka Muteesa II

The foundation stone on the old church donated by Tefiro Kisosonkole

He revealed that by June 2016, the Museum will be commissioned and opened to the public and then they will embark on the construction of the Museum Tower. This three level structure with a basement will be constructed in front of the Museum and it will accommodate the following:
a) Basement: This will be  a place where valuables of the Museum will be safely stored pending categorisation and display.

An artistic impression of the Uganda Martyrs Museum
Namugongo - Anglican Church of Uganda

b) Ground Floor: This will accommodate administration offices, washrooms, a reception, cash office and area with introductory aspects that initiate the visitors into the martyrs' Museum. The Uganda rich cultural history to include, hunting instruments, farming tools, types of houses, information on spirit mediums and instruments used in worshiping, war tools. Cloths some cultures that can be presented in pictures, sculptures, and paintings crafts, kings, chiefs and a variety of economic activities.
c)The first floor: Artwork for the road to Martyrdom and history. How Religion started in Uganda that is to say Islam started in 1845, Anglicanism in 1877 and Roman Catholicism in 1879. How Uganda Martyrs were persecuted. How Infrastructural developments such as roads, hospitals, schools and others have been set up through Uganda Martyrs which has brought light to Uganda.

An eye bird's view of the museum

d) The Second Floor: This will accommodate the Library, resource centre and education facilities which will include books for religious education, slave trade, and others, Publications, research, documentation and knowledge management. Paintings, artifacts, pictures to mention but a few.
e) The Third Floor: This will accommodate information technology i.e. use of computers, surfing the net, photocopying, printing and other stationery.
They also plan to construct a 100 room guest house that will have conference/seminar rooms
A multipurpose play ground for various games will also be constructed . It shall be the main car parking ground to cater for more than 1,000 vehicles.

Proposed Namugngo Martyrs Guest House

The Martyrs memorial spring well  will be modified and its water will be purified and bottled for sale.
The Namugongo Martyrs Worship Centre: The Church, Pavillions and Terraces will be renovated to provide enough seats for the many visitors especially those that  pay their pilgrimage on the 3rd of June every year.
They are also embarking on a project to construct a perimeter wall fence on the whole land for security purposes.

UGANDA MARTYRS MUSEUM NAMUGONGO CHURCH OF UGANDA THE MUSEUM PROJECT 1cost Ug. Shs 36B)

The Church of Uganda has developed and finalised the idea of constructing a Museum at Uganda Martyrs site Namugongo.This is intended to make the place attractive and also to give honour the brave Ugandans who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the Christian faith. The museum project will paint a reminding picture of the road to martyrdom. Namugongo hosts the command post of the Kabaka's chief executioner whose title was Mukajanga. It was established in 1760 during the reign of kabaka Kyabaggu to punish notables in Buganda and this is the place where the first seed of Christianity in Uganda was sown.

Mukajanga's soldiers burning the Christians at Namugongo

It is a known fact that religious influences were so entrenched in the socio­political fabric of Buganda during the rule of Kabaka Mutesa I who invited the Christian. His son Kabaka Mwanga II who succeeded him perceived religion as a threat to his political authority and he chose to exterminate the converts. The Anglican Church recognizes martyrs as may be seen in the table below, of which 13 were burnt at Namugongo and others in different places. Among them, there is Bishop James Hannington who was killed at Luba's court in Busoga on the instruction of Kabaka Mwanga II of Buganda. The later martyr is Bishop Janan Luwum who was murdered in 1977 during dictator Amin Dada's reign and was canonized in 1998 at Westminster Abbey London by the Archbishop of Canterbury. At the same spot 12 catholic martyrs were burnt and hurried. Other catholic martyrs were also killed from different places as shown in table (B) below of which two recent martyrs; David Okello and Jildo Irwa were killed in Acholi in 1918.

The converts who were killed have since then been recognised for their courage and martyrdom and ever since, 3rd June has been gazetted as a public holiday in Uganda. On this day, tens of thousands of believers from within and outside Uganda converge at Namugongo to pay tribute to the Uganda martyrs and to recommit themselves to their faith.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF NAMUGONGO

The word Namugongo is derived from the Luganda word Omugongo, which means The Back. The place started with Kyabaggu in 1760, the 25th Kabaka of Buganda. He apparently gazetted the area as the official place for all the executions he sanctioned and mostly for the notable personalities including princes, princesses, chiefs and pages whom he considered a threat to his throne. The convicts were made to travel long distances to this place and many would get exhausted on the way. Whoever resisted walking would be dragged by his/ her back (Omugongo) all the way. Many victims reached terribly injured with only bones showing without flesh. The place was therefore named Namugongo to mean dragged by the back.