The forthrightness of this piece from a Ugandan website intrigued me: get busy, people, and make it easier for the pilgrims!

By declaring them martyrs and declaring June 3 a public holiday in their honour, government and church, respectively, have at least taken a step in the right direction. Every Ugandan, even a non-believer, now has a reason to cerebrate martyrs day. But there is a lot more the two institutions can do. It is mainly up to them to market the martyrs, in the pulpit and through the ministry of tourism respectively. What the rest of Ugandans have to do is to focus on making the pilgrims feel at home while in Uganda, something they are good at, of course at a reasonable fee.

lTravel agencies can arrange package tours, airlines, hotels and restaurants can offer special rates for pilgrims; the list is endless.

lArtists and craftspeople can also cash in with paintings, sculptures and other items that the tourists can buy and take home as memorabilia.

lRosaries, medallions with the martyrs’ images, Bibles and prayer books with covers made out of backcloth; the unique material the martyrs used to wear, certificates for those who have made the pilgrimage, audio and video recording and books on the martyrs’ lives and so many others can be sold at the various shrines.

lCurrently it is very difficult to get a picture of the martyrs, or literature about their family backgrounds. The church can also organise a series of pilgrimages, retracing the footsteps of each martyr from his village of birth, to their execution at the pyre. This will help give the whole thing a national outlook, instead of keeping it a Baganda affair. After all, the martyrs originated from various parts of Uganda, and they were not all Baganda.

Since the Pearl of Africa image has faded over time as a result of wars, disease and other calamities, we might as well create ourselves a new image. Then we shall be in the same league as Saudi Arabia, Israel, and other holy lands.