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- President Museveni met with a delegation from the Catholic Diocese of Nebbi in preparation for the Uganda Martyrs celebration on June 3, 2024. The meeting took place at Government House in Entebbe on April 30, 2024.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on April 30, 2024 announced his contribution of Sh1.3 billion to the Catholic Diocese of Nebbi in preparation for this year’s Uganda Martyrs’ Day celebrations.
The Catholic Diocese of Nebbi was tasked with leading the 2024 Uganda Martyrs’ Day celebrations, scheduled for June 3, with a required budget of Sh1.3 billion.
This is the second time the Diocese of Nebbi will lead prayers in Namugongo, following its previous leadership in 2007.
The annual event pays tribute to the 22 Catholic and 23 Anglican martyrs, who were executed for their faith by order of Kabaka Mwanga of the Buganda Kingdom between 1885 and 1887.
Rt. Most Reverend Raphael Wokorach, Archbishop-elect of the Archdiocese of Gulu and Apostolic Bishop of the Diocese of Nebbi, led the religious delegation to meet with President Museveni, where they were introduced by the Hon. Dr Joyce Moriku Kaducu, Minister of State for Education and Sports in charge of Primary Education at State House-Entebbe.
Expressing his gratitude, the Rt. Rev. Wokorach thanked the President for his wise leadership, which has ensured peace and freedom of religion in the country.
He highlighted the significance of this year’s celebrations, which coincide with the diamond jubilee since the canonization of the 22 Ugandan martyrs and saints venerated by the Church.
The Rt. Rev. Wokorach also highlighted the challenges faced in organizing such an event, highlighting the need for financial support to ensure its success.
He acknowledged the efforts made by the diocese to raise funds but asked for additional help to cover the Sh1.3 billion budget, a request which was granted by the President.
“We made a budget and hired our people to raise the money and make sure the preparations went smoothly. So far we have raised 500 million shillings for additional preparatory needs, but the budget amounts to 1.3 billion shillings. That is where we have expressed our desire to ask for your support so that these celebrations take place at an internationally respected level,” the Archbishop noted.
Additionally, Rt. Rev. Wokorach shared his vision for the diocese, focusing on sustainable agricultural practices to improve livelihoods in the region. He highlighted the importance of providing modern agricultural equipment, such as tractors, to improve productivity in farming communities.
“The biggest challenge is that our people have been using hoes to dig. My request is that if we can have six tractors in the six barns that we have in the diocese, we can share the tractor to have a larger space prepared to plant and care for the area and the people as well,” stated the Archbishop.
For his part, President Museveni congratulated the Rt. Rev. Wokorach upon being elected Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Gulu. He wished her the best in his tenure.
Rt. Rev. Wokorach, who was appointed the new Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Gulu on March 22, 2024, replaced Rt. Rev. Dr. John Baptist Odama who retired. He is scheduled to take office as archbishop on July 12, 2024.
Recognizing the importance of the occasion, the President assured the delegation of the government’s commitment to supporting the celebrations and also promised to preside over the celebrations in person.
He praised the Archbishop’s vision for the diocese, emphasizing the need for sustainable agricultural practices to improve livelihoods in the region.
President Museveni also provided valuable insights into agricultural practices, specifically addressing the issue of extensive agriculture in the West Nile region.
He advised the community to transition to intensive agriculture, emphasizing the importance of maximizing productivity on limited land.
“The confusion among leaders is that they do not listen to our advice that we put in our 1996 manifesto. We said, first of all, stop working for the stomach. In our 1996 National Resistance Movement (NRM) manifesto, we said that there is a difference between intensive agriculture and extensive agriculture. Intensive farming means using a small area in a certain way to earn a good income. Extensive farming is when you use a large area of land, so even if you get little money per acre, because of the scale, you get enough money,” he said.
“Leaders are busy with other things and yet they have to talk to people to solve their problems. We have been talking about this topic for a long time, we talked about the 4 hectare model because at that time we assumed that people had four hectares and we said that on one acre we would put coffee, on another acre we would put fruit and the other should be for zero grazing. , and then the other you put cassava that stops the stomach and in the backyard you put chickens for eggs or pigsty and then in the lowlands near the water, you can do fish farming. This advice is in writing, my advice is to inform your congregation about the issue of the two modes of agriculture and that it should be intensive agriculture rather than extensive agriculture.”
Furthermore, President Museveni also promised to provide six tractors to improve agricultural productivity and pledged to address infrastructure challenges such as the construction of the Nebbi-Goli road.
“We had our plans, but the problems we had, including locusts, floods and COVID, sidetracked us. However, it is good that we survived and that is why we had to hold on to many projects,” said President Museveni.
The meeting also saw the participation of several members of the organizing committee, including Rev. Fr. Denis Ocanda, president of the Liturgical Committee; Rev. Fr. Kennedy Onoba, Member of the Organizing Committee; Rev. Fr. Stephen Oribdhogu, Vice-Chancellor of the Catholic Diocese of Nebbi; Mrs. Catherine Okumu Mavenjina, President of the Central Organizing Committee; Mr. Gabriel Okumu, Chairman of the Transport Commission; Mr. Phillip Odida, Chairman of the Protocol Committee; Mr. Onyai Henry, Chairman of the Accommodation Committee; Mr. Maurice Opar Manano, Treasurer of the Martyrs’ Day celebrations; Mr. Fred Omach Jachan, Member of the Finance Committee; Ms Hellen Acikane Odongtho, Member of the Finance Committee; Mrs. Hellen Ocwechi Ocaya, Member of the Finance Committee; Ms. Grace Fuacan, Member of the Finance Committee; and Mr. Willy Owachi, Secretary of the Finance Committee.