MYNYONYO IS COMING UP AS ANOTHER TOURISM SPOT NEXT TO NAMUGONGO MARTYRS SHRINE .
On every 3rd June Uganda celebrate the normally known as Martyrs Day in the East African region. As arememberance to the previous mascre /exetution of the matyrs who felt rebellious to the king of buganda kabaka Mwanga who following the introduction og Christianity in Buganda.
Other than the popular Namugongo Catholic and Protestant Martyrs shrines, and later may be St. Balikuddembe (Owino) Market, one neglected or less talked about place is Munyonyo.
The first culprits of Kabaka Mwanga's rage were Andrew Kaggwa and Denis Sebugwawo just on the outskirts of Mwanga's Munyonyo Palace. And there is no better way to introduce Munyonyo as a place of religious rebellion or rather martyrdom and therefore, it is crying for attention so that religious pilgrims can come and experience the feel of the beginning of the road to martyrdom.
Munyonyo is home to Denis Sebugwawo's shrine that has been gazetted by Gaba Catholic Parish as an open church. Every Sunday, mass is said at this open church near Boutique Hotel while Andrew Kaggwa's shrine which has a church that can sit not more than 20 people, rubs shoulders with The Royal Impala Hotel.
Other than Munyonyo being a posh residential place, it is here that the martyrdom (1885-87) marked the beginning of the end of Mwanga's rule and his subsequent exile to the Seychelles. For this, Munyonyo is beckoning for attention as a religious and cultural heritage tourism destination centre. And the well tended Andrew Kaggwa's shrine that seats on a five-acre piece of land is ideal for picnics, while the Mulungu landing site is out there calling for attention.
Hotels are springing up for one to partake of this religious and cultural heritage of Uganda and, other than the famous Munyonyo Speke Resort Hotel; the area is dotted with other pocket friendly, tranquil tropical hotels where 'the sound of silence' can be heard. This sound is the massive Lake Victoria waters hitting the shores, crickets chirping away, birds singing and trees inviting the sweet winds.
Munyonyo has a potential of becoming a commercially viable religious, political, cultural tourist destination where pilgrims will be fascinated by the gaiety of this inviting place. But it can only provide that invitation if the seeds of religious, political and cultural tourism are sown and nurtured beyond Namugongo shrines by both the church, the kingship and Bulange, the seat of Buganda Kingdom.
According to Godfrey Walusimbi, who loiters around Munyonyo landing site and who claims to be possessed by the ancestral spirits of Buganda, the whole idea of 'murdering' the martyrs was hatched at the Munyonyo palace.
This is confirmed by an elder who does not feel comfortable to be revealed in the press, that Munyonyo is home to two important Catholic martyrs: Andrew Kaggwa and Denis Sebugwawo.
The elder says these were pages of King Mwanga II at the Munyonyo palace which is currently home to Prince Walugembe. The king had called for a conference of his people regarding his pages' rebellion and what could be done to stop their fanaticism.
The name Munyonyo is derived from the Luganda word 'okunnyonyola' meaning to expound, to educate, inform, or to enlighten. The king would call a conference of his people to Munyonyo to discuss or explain a given happening.
During the religious wars and the kingship of Mwanga II, the British administration would intervene and exile Mwanga to Bulingugwe Island which is just a kilometre from the landing site of Mulungu.
Mulungu itself has its various connotations. It derives its name from 'okulungamya' or 'okumulungula ensonga' meaning, to make clear or to clear some air over a given matter or issue within the kingdom.
This landing site is where Arabs penetrated the hinterland of Buganda from Karagwe in Tanzania. And they would always say: 'Tumefika Salaama' meaning we have arrived safely and they would meet King Mwanga at Munyonyo Palace. That is also how a whole village just outside Munyonyo is called Salaama.
Arabs convinced Mwanga to become a Moslem from Munyonyo Palace. The Christians later met Mwanga at Munyonyo and convinced him to change religion and become a Christian. However, interestingly, Mwanga kept his shrine for the spirit of Nalongo Nagadya at Mulungu.
Mulungu is the very point through which Mwanga wanted to have a canal linking Bulange Palace and Munyonyo Palace. This was the reason the Kabaka's lake was dug so that the canal could go through the Kibuye artisan town and Salaama and drop in at Mulungu on Lake Victoria.
The king loved the canoe sport and wanted to have canoe rides from Bulange to Munyonyo and hold clan canoe competitions from Bulange to Munyonyo. Every year, the Baganda under the kingship of Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II hold canoe competitions at Mulungu.
Munyonyo, therefore, was not only a place of discussing issues pertaining in the kingdom but also the beginning of hatching the plan to finish off all those who had rebelled against the king for the sake of foreign religions.
