Speaker asks Anglicans to mark Bishop Hannington day

Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, has asked the Anglican Church to hold an annual service on 29 October, the day when Bishop James Hannington was killed in Mayuge.

Bishop Hannington, the first martyr in Uganda, was killed in 1885 alongside 48 of his 50 pages who were speared and stoned to death at present day Kyando village in Mayuge district. 

Speaker Kadaga who was presiding over this year’s celebration at the martyrdom site, said she was dismayed that Ugandan clergy hold the day in low esteem, while it’s highly celebrated in Canterbury, the headquarters of the Church of England and Anglican Communion. 

“Today is a special day in Canterbury; every 29th of October they hold a special service in honor of the Bishop but people here take this day as a joke yet Bishop Hannington is the first Martyr in Uganda,” said Kadaga. 

Kadaga was also disappointed that Anglican bishops had missed the event saying they are planting roots of disunity in the church. 

“I am disappointed, I can’t see the Bishop of Kigezi, I can’t see the Bishop of Gulu, I can’t even see the Bishop of Mbale, where are they? They are not concerned,” she said.

The Speaker was also concerned that despite the day being declared a public holiday in 2018 by President Yoweri Museveni, it has not been gazetted.

By the time of his martyrdom, Bishop Hannington was the reigning Bishop of the Anglican Church in East Africa. His body lies at Namirembe Cathedral, the seat of the Church of Uganda.