MASAKA, UGANDA: Some Catholic faithful in Masaka diocese are panicking over the impending demolition of the ancient Cathedral cemetery to make way for a road project. The affected cemetery sits next to the Masaka Diocesan Cathedral in Kitovu in Masaka city and is a burial ground for hundreds of people who have close connections to the Catholic faith and the Church.
Established in 1906, the cemetery has now been earmarked for demolition to open the route for the 4.6-kilometer Nyendo-Cathedral to Kitovu Hospital road, which Uganda National Roads Authority-UNRA is set to start working on. The Reverend Fr. Deusdedit Luyimbaazi, the Estates Manager of Masaka Diocese, notes that according to the design, the road will partly run through the cemetery, which requires relocation of some of the remains that are underneath to pave way for the project.
According to Fr. Luyimbaazi, out of mutual engagements with UNRA, the Masaka diocese as the landlord agreed to have all the affected graves relocated to make way for the project without any financial compensation from the government. He indicates that besides the remains of a few known religious people who the diocese can easily transfer, the cemetery has several other bodies, some of whose relatives are not even known due to the very long time since they were buried.
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