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Ugandan Police Impose Security Measures Amid Mass Pilgrimage

© Photo Isabelle ProndzynskiNamugongo Martyrs Shrine
Namugongo Martyrs Shrine  - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 23.05.2023
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The limitations are due to an influx of pilgrims from the DRC, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan traveling to Kampala on foot for next month's Martyrs' Day celebrations.
The Ugandan police said in a statement that they have directed all territorial commanders to provide for the safety and security of pilgrims heading to the Namugongo shrine in the country's capital.
According to the statement, commanders must escort pilgrims and protect them at night and early in the morning when they are restricted to move.

"They [territorial commanders] must escort [pilgrims] and provide protection to them while sleeping at churches, schools and community centers... They should identify those who cannot endure the journey for medical attention," the police said.

The statement also noted that no crime and security incidents have been reported so far. Ambulances have been deployed on all major highways for medical evacuation and emergency response, it added.
On Monday, police spokesman Fred Enanga encouraged pilgrims, in particular those who have not made the trip before, to be careful, as they are often be targeted by criminals.
Pilgrims are on their way to Uganda to celebrate Martyrs' Day, a national public holiday in Uganda on June 3.
The holiday commemorates the courage of 45 Christians, both Catholic and Anglican, who chose execution over abandoning their faith, slayed between 1885 and 1887 on orders of Kababa Mwanga II, then king of Buganda, for their Christianity.
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