Uganda Martyrs Anglican Site Namugongo

During the reign of Kabaka Mwanga, twenty-six Christians were martyred at Namugongo. The Uganda Martyrs Museum remembers the brave witness and testimony of these believers.

On 3 June 1886, 32 young men, pages of the court of King Mwanga II of Buganda, were burned to death at Namugongo for their refusal to renounce Christianity. They were Anglican and Catholic.

Annually on 3 June, Christians from Uganda and other parts of the world congregate at Namugongo to commemorate the lives and religious beliefs of the Uganda Martyrs. Crowds have been estimated in hundreds of thousands in some years. In June 2015, an estimated 2 million people attended the event.

The Uganda Martyrs Shrine Namugongo were first recognised by Joshua Serufusa-Zake (1884–25 June 1985) when he was the Ssabaddu of Kira Sub-County. He constructed a structure at the Namugongo site, where it appears shrines were built later for prayer.

Initially, the shrine was a bumpy place, but now it meets international standards. The late Mpalanyi Nkoyooyo, former archbishop of the Church of Uganda, spearheaded the fun- draising and construction efforts for the Uganda Martyrs museum to preserve the culture and story of the gruesome killing of 25 pages (servants) of King Mwanga II for failure to denounce Christianity

The amphitheatre has a sitting capacity of 4,000 people but can accommodate over 20,000 people. The water spring has also been beautified with sculptures of Mukajanga, the Buganda kingdom’s chief executioner, and his helpers holding spears and other items that were used in the martyrdom.