16 , Friday, June 9, 2017 COMMENT Kavuma-Kaggwa, elder from Kyagwe Shiekh , the college Ibrahim Raganyi that has produced heroes Asante oday is ’s Heroes Day. The celebrations When the White Fathers knew this, they quickly communicated Ban concrete graves are in Zirobwe sub-county, Bamunnanika county with the Catholic Mill Mission in England and requested them in Luwero district. The theme is “Self-sacrifice is the to send British Catholic Fathers immediately to Buganda so as to lot has been said about the lavish burial singular pillar in nation building”. dispel Kabaka Mwanga’s belief. ceremony of the late Ivan Ssemwanga on May In line with these celebrations, there are institutions They sent Bishop Henry Hanlon of the Mill Hill Fathers, who 30. Notably highlighted was the throwing of cash in this country that have produced and continue to arrived in 1895 and the Kabaka gave him Nsambya Hill as their into the grave by the socialites named the “Rich generateT heroes in different fields. headquarters. While the White Fathers built the other famous Gang”. One such institutition is . Catholic School, St. Mary’s College Kisubi in 1911, the Mill Hill My concern is not the dollars, or shillings The famous Namilyango College, in Kyaggwe, , Fathers built Namilyango College in 1902. Athat accompanied the casket into the grave, but the exorbitant on March 25 celebrated 115 years of fruitful existence and great As soon as Bishop Hanlon arrived here, being a British who burial expenses incurred. Indeed the cash thrown was nothing service to Uganda and the whole of East and Central . knew the characteristics of his fellow British especially the compared to other items used at the burial. The celebrations took place at the college on Namilyango hill colonialists, he worked closely with the three Buganda We the religious leaders have not done much to sensitise the overlooking Lake Victoria. Regents who were administering Buganda when Kabaka populace on the spiritual implications of conducting such an This year’s celebrations were the biggest I have ever Sir Daudi Chwa II was still young. expensive burial ceremony especially during the time when a seen at the college since it was founded. This year’s The three Buganda Regents were Sir Apollo Kaggwa section of Ugandans are going without food in greater Teso and theme was: Moral uprightness to greater heights. (Katikkiro), Stanislaus Mugwanya (Omulamuzi) and Lango sub-regions. The chief guest was an Old Boy, His Lordship Justice Zakalia Kitaka Kisingiri (Omuwanika). Bishop Hanlon In Uganda, rites and traditions followed at burial ceremonies Bart Magunda Katureebe, the Chief Justice of Uganda. was their chief adviser at the time of making the are mainly based on either Christianity or Islam. Though the The High Mass was celebrated by the Right Reverend 1900 Uganda Agreement which extended the British Bible does not really show how the dead is to be buried, we Christopher Kakooza, the Bishop of Lugazi Dioceses, Protectorate from Buganda to cover and create the discover that the body of Jesus Christ was wrapped in linen cloth assisted by five priests. present-day Uganda. He was also a signatory on and not placed in a casket Katureebe thanked the Mill Hill Fathers for the Agreement. but buried in a tomb heaved building the college saying they had a wonderful Stanislaus Mugwanya, who was the Let us save the from the rock, Mark 15:46. vision for this country. He joined Namilyango head of the Catholics in Buganda, The Bible does not give College in 1969 and Studied English, Economics requested Bishop Hanlon to build detailed instructions on how and Geography. He said the reason why he Namilyango College as the High environment a body should be handled joined Namilyango College was because he is a School for Buganda Catholic after death. The Christian Catholic. Princes and those of Bunyoro, Toro, by acting scholars have not come up Justice Katureebe called upon parents Ankole, Busoga and other areas. with a solution either (I stand to advise their children to do well when Bishop Hanlon built the College to be corrected). This has left they grow up and serve this country. He and turned it into a high school for all responsibly room for the adherents to said he has served this country well in all Namilyango College Africans as long as they were Catholics. bury the dead in their own departments where he has been. The headmasters who took over in while handling styles. He called on student to be prepared the later years allowed students of In Islam, as seen by to serve this country well just like the was meant to be other denominations. The first Buganda the teachings of Prophet missionaries who built the school structures Prince to be educated at Namilyango the dead Muhammad (SAW) four more than 100 years ago. a high school for was Joseph Musanje who painted the things must be done to the portrait of the famous Kabaka Mutesa I body. How Namilyango College was founded which shows him with big eyes. l Collective bathing of the body as soon as possible. The college was established by Bishop Buganda Catholic l Enshrouding the dead in three or five white bio-degradable Henry Hanlon of the Catholic Mill Hill What made Namilyango famous sheets of cotton or linen depending on the gender of the Missionaries, who came here in 1895 Princes and those of So many factors made Namilyango deceased person. from England at the Mill Hill Mission College famous, but the most l A brief normal prayer conducted. headquarters. outstanding is that the school educated l Burial of the body in the grave. When Kabaka Mutesa I invited the White Bunyoro, Toro, Ankole thousands of Ugandans and other The lavish display and wailings at the burial ceremonies are Missionaries from Europe to come and nationalities who are serving all over the discouraged in Islam. The state of the art casket, the tiling of the educate the people of Uganda in 1875, the and Busoga world in many fields. graves, the concrete, the expensive suits and other jewelry like first to arrive here was Bishop Mackey of The other outstanding factor is necklaces, rings, chains, watches that accompany the dead are all the Church Missionary Society (CMS) who Namilyango has produced many unacceptable. It is the soul which is most important and not the arrived in 1877. scientists who became medical doctors and are now serving all body that is accompanied. He was followed by the White Fathers who were led by the Rev. over the world. Ugandans are good at copying Western culture. I am reliably Father Lourdel and Brother Amans who arrived here on February One of them is Professor J.C. Ssali a surgeon from Kyaggwe who informed that on average, Ugandans spend between $10,000 17, 1879. Later on Kabaka Mutesa I, through the conversations was at the College during my time in the 1950s. There is also to $20,000 on burial expenses. I visited www.richest.com and with Father Lourdel, gave him (Lourdel) a name Mapeera, which Professor Josephine Nambooze the first woman medical doctor in found out the 10 most expensive burial ceremonies in the world they have named the Catholic Church building, Mapeera House East and Central Africa. and I was shocked to discover that top on the list is Alexander that is housing . There is Doctor who was until recently the Great, $600m was spent followed by Ronald Reagen, Kabaka Mutesa I gave the White Fathers Rubaga Hill as their the head of the School of Health Sciences at Makerere University. $400m. headquarters to spread Christianity in Uganda. Mutesa moved There is also Doctor Stephen Bbosa, a professor of psychiatry and According to the narration of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) our his Place from Rubaga to Kasubi where there is the Kasubi Tombs he was the first African to qualify in this profession in East and bodies and attire shall be totally different from what we use in now. Central Africa and he helped to set up Butabika Hospital. the present life, regardless as to whether you are destined to hell When you enter Rubaga Cathedral you see the Holy Alter and The other old boy of Namilyango College, who is in a high or heaven. that is the exact spot where Kabaka Mutesa’s Place was. position of leadership in this country, is Joseph Bbosa, of UPC. The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) Sekabaka Mutesa I passed away in 1884 and his son Kabaka There is Dr. Kiyengo, a surgeon, serving in the UPDF and he is must stop this extravagant and hazardous use of land by some Mwanga succeeded him. Seeing the White Fathers who were working with the Uganda peace mission in Somalia. people. Irresponsible human activities have greatly contributed French and the CMS Missionaries, who were from England, to environmental degradation. Population pressure and land Mwanga believed there was no Catholicism in England. Read the detailed version on www.newvision.co.ug fragmentation is already having a negative impact. NEMA should come up with policies and laws to stop the use of glass, metal, tiles and concrete in the construction of graves to save the future generations. Just imagine the amount of damage it can cause for one million people to be buried in concrete tiled graves. The Bible in Genesis 3:19 and the Glorious Qur’an chapter 20:55 both agree that from the earth man was created and unto it shall return and from it shall be brought out once again. Therefore, the decomposition of the dead is part of the re-cycling of important nutrients and part of the formation of important minerals like carbonates, lime, natural gases and oil of which are important for our economic growth. Let us save the environment by acting responsibly while handling the dead.

The writer is the District Kadhi of Tororo