With less than a week to the Martyrs Day celebrations, business activity at both the Anglican Site and Catholic Shrine in Namugongo is experiencing a significant downturn compared to previous years.
Bbeg Media visited the Anglican section of the shrine and observed a limited number of businesses, including catering services, retail shops, restaurants, and vendors selling religious items.
Many business people we talked to expressed concern over the unexpectedly low turnout of pilgrims, which they had anticipated would be robust by this time.
“We arrived yesterday to set up for business, expecting pilgrims from across the world to celebrate this memorable day, but business is significantly slower compared to previous years,” one vendor shared.
In fact, some businesses have opted to understock merchandise this year to avoid the losses they incurred in previous years due to overstocking.
Some of the vendors said the high operational costs had affected them. They have to pay money ranging from Shs 100,000 to Shs 300,000 to secure a slot inside the Catholic Shrine, which attracts the most pilgrims.
In addition, competition is fierce, particularly for smaller businesses struggling to compete with larger enterprises, some of which are church-owned.
Another turn off, a businessman said, is the tight security around the shrine, aimed at ensuring safety of the pilgrims. This locks away many would be customers.
The lingering economic effects of Covid-19 have also hit small-scale businesses hard, with many yet to recover fully.
Betty Ethel Naluyima, the Wakiso Woman MP, said there is the need for increased government funding for religious tourism to boost Uganda’s economy.
“Additional funding will help renovate religious heritage sites and create jobs for our people. As parliament, we are committed to supporting religious tourism to strengthen the tourism sector,” she said.
With the 2026 elections approaching, Naluyima urged pilgrims to pray for a peaceful, free, and fair electoral process.
