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Plain textUganda To Recognize Martyrs’ Day As National Event
In a bid to showcase Uganda’s diverse tourism potential, the government will on June 3 recognise the Martyrs’ Day as a national event.
The government now says it views the historic day with special significance and would beginning with this year’s celebrations to be like it to be marked and recognized as an important national event, not only in religious terms but also as an important national and global tourism product.
Commissioner Wildlife Conservation in the Ministry of Tourism Wild Life and Heritage James Lutalo says this year, the government would like to partner with the religious leaders to improve the basic infrastructure and services that will enhance the pilgrimage experience and truly reflect the historic, religious and tourism value of Namugongo.
“As a tourism industry, our mandate is to promote Uganda as the best tourism destination for local and international visitors. There cannot be any other opportunity to show case and market Uganda than during this period when we expect to receive about 1.6 million visitors,” says Lutalo.
This year in particular, Uganda has received a lot of international recognitions and accolades.
In February 2013, Uganda will be featured at a ceremony launching the book ‘Classic Hikes of The World’, written by Peter Potterfield in Washington DC.
According to Lutalo, these recognitions come against the backdrop of global economic hardship but with a shining light of hope that Uganda’s beautiful gifts granted by nature will never be hidden or forgotten.
The Martyrs’ Day celebrations at Namugongo attract thousands of pilgrims and therefore an important site for creating a positive image for Uganda.
Lutalo says the government recognizes the efforts religious leaders have always put in to organize and manage the pilgrimage during this period when the country hosts many visitors.
He further notes the Ministry of Tourism appreciates the active participation of all government and private sector who have contributed towards the planning of this year’s Martyrs’ Day celebrations.
“This is the beginning of a partnership that the Ministry would like to encourage all the partners to continue nurturing,” stresses Lutalo.
In June 2011, President Yoweri Museveni created a fully fledged Ministry of Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage and also launched the Presidential Initiative on Sustainable Tourism (PRESTO) to support tourism initiatives in order to exploit all available potential enshrined in Uganda’s natural and cultural heritage endowment.
This year PRESTO, in conjunction the Ministry has coordinated various other sectors of government to work together with religious leaders to exploit the potential in religious tourism through the improvement of the organization and celebration of this year’s Martyrs day, 3rd June 2012, in a special way.
The year’s themes for the pilgrimage, for the first time which aim at targeting the Moslems, Catholics and Anglicans are: “Think not of those who were killed in the way of allah as dead, nay, they are alive with their lord and have provision”- Sulat al Imran 3:169; “No longer I, but Christ who lives in me” – Galatians 2:20; and “I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me” – Philippians 4:13.
Lutalo says the new efforts by PRESTO, the Ministry and other government and private stakeholders have enabled provision of services for this year’s pilgrims like enhanced security, more shelter and public address systems, better and safer water, improved hygiene, better traffic flow and, roads infrastructure, publicity and site organization.
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Updated on 2013-05-09 09:25 |
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