About Us

A Few Words

About Us

The Holy Martyrs Choir is a voluntary and Apostolate group of members formed in 1994 to evangelize through Catholic Church music.  We all have different stories. We all have our own backgrounds. We are united by our voices and a love for Christ.  Our choir is made up of members from races all over the country. This has given Holy Martyrs choir an advantage to learn songs in many languages and right now we can animate a full mass in any of the languages in Uganda

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The Evolution of Holy Martyrs Choir Namugongo

1994

Just as most enterprises begin with dreams, so it was with the youth leaders of Namugongo before 1994. Parish Ssabavubuka then, Mr. Paddy Musisi (RIP) who was already a member of the only existing choir (now St. Andrew’s Choir Namugongo) dreamt of starting a youth choir.

After consulting with fellow leaders in the youth ministry, they approached the parish priest, Rev. Fr. Joseph Obunga who at first declined to grant their wish. But after more consultations, this time involving the parish priest himself, a BIG YES was given and the clapping started.

Invitations and registration immediately started and the choir was founded with a few members. Because of the little music knowledge they had, Mr. Musisi together with her Nnabavubuka Prossy Odwory (Mrs) decided to approach Mr. Ssemulya Rex, the current deputy head teacher in-charge of academics at Uganda Martyrs SS Namugongo, and when Mr. Ssemulya accepted the responsibility, the big journey started.

By that time, Namugongo Parish had one parishioners’ Mass at the Shrine; at 7:30 in Luganda (currently it is at 8:00am). Ten O’clock Mass was for students of Uganda Martyrs SS Namugongo and 6:30am for Namugongo Girls Primary School.

The new choir, having no Mass to animate, was assigned the 7:30am Mass of every last Sunday of the month, that is to say, one Mass every month. However, they would animate Ten O’clock Mass whenever students went for holidays.

Back to 1994: the choir is founded and commissioned to start on with evangelization, but not even with a single hymnbook, no instrument, no uniforms, only members with their trainer.

But as we read in 1 Thessalonians 5:24, God is always faithful and makes ways where there seems to be no ways. So as the choir was still bamboozled, God sent a savior in the person of Mr. John Chrysostom Muyingo who, then, was headmaster of Uganda Martyrs Secondary School Namugongo. He gave the choir 10 hymnbooks and a set of uniforms. He also offered the necessary guidance needed by any developing group and was hence made the Choir’s first Patron.

This first patron is, today, a member of parliament for Baamunaanika and state minister for higher education: indeed God has blessed him for his generosity!

The Choir moved on with one Mass a month until 2000 when the Parish Priest, then, Msgr. Charles Kato made Ten O’clock Mass a parishioners’ Mass celebrated every Sunday and officially gave it to the Youth Choir to animate it. Choir members, however, did not receive this news positively because Ten O’clock Mass had very few people; their request was for parish priest to give them the Luganda Mass which had more people; and then the other big choir shifts to the English Mass.

Msgr. Kato’s response was very simple; “sing well and the church will be full of people in no time,” he commanded in form of advice.

The Choir, left with no choice, embarked on a ‘project’ of attracting more people through beautiful singing. Every Sunday they would borrow traditional drums from Namugongo Girls Boarding Primary School to make their Masses lively. This did not take long before yielding results as people started pouring in the Ten O’clock Mass.

In 2001 the Choir leadership requested Msgr. Kato to allow them appeal to Christians for support to acquire music instruments, and permission was granted with no hesitation.

To everyone’s surprise, the very day the first appeal was made, a Good Samaritan in the names of Mr. John (Matovu) Walugembe gave the Choir money that bought a full set of traditional drums, a set of xylophones, a tube fiddle and shakers. Mr. Walugembe did not only give money but also gave a lot of advice to the group and members requested him to be their patron. His acceptance made him the second patron of the Choir.

In 2002 the Choir made a resolution to professionalise its activities: a constitution to guide the said activities was drafted with the help of Mr. Tobias Ssemakula, who also later became a Choir patron.

A driving slogan; ‘Let us make Ten O’clock a semi-heaven’ was developed with an aim of constantly improving liturgy during Mass. By that time, the Choir was in-charge of all lay faithful activities of the Mass; singing, taking readings, prayers of the faithful and announcements.

It was during constitution making that the Choir changed its name from Namugongo Youth Choir to Holy Martyrs Choir Namugongo because members would not remain youth forever.

In 2003 the Choir embarked on another project of acquiring an organ and an amplification system to better the singing. In this campaign, an Easter Concert was organized and at the end, Mr. Francis Mangeni gave the Choir money and a brand new Yamaha PSR550 keyboard was bought.

Mr. John Walugembe again gave money for the amplification system (speakers, microphones, a mixer and an amplifier) and really liturgy improved.

2003 was a year of blessings on the side of the Choir because it was this same year that God gifted the Choir with another trainer in the person of Rev. Deacon Henry Kasasa (now Fr. Henry Kasasa, head teacher of Uganda Martyrs SS Namugongo).

Deacon Kasasa came with his black ‘HENKAS’ files, full of sheet music of most of the latest songs then. Teaming up with Mr. Ssemulya, the Choir became another social healing group!! Missing practice sessions would cause total sickness to any member.

When Deacon Kasasa was ordained a priest in 2004, the Choir asked him to become their chaplain, a responsibility he freely accepted. And when Msgr. Kato gave it a blessing, the now 15 year old relationship started, (Fr. Kasasa is still the Choir’s chaplain, even when he was at Trinity College Nabbingo, members resolved to maintain his chaplaincy).

As liturgy improved in Ten O’clock, more people came and by 2005 all seats in the Shrine would be occupied.

Because of the good music during Mass, a big number of parishioners wanted to sing along with the Choir but could not because of lacking enough hymnbooks.

This prompted Mr. Francis Okello of Uganda Martyrs Hardware to buy 100 hymnbooks for other Christians to participate in the singing. However, his dream did not last long because some people would forget and go away with the books. He then requested the parish priest to allow him buy a projector so that songs are just projected, and this gave birth to the use of projectors in the Shrine until today.

Leaving liturgy alone, the Choir leadership also resolved to make the choir self-sustaining. To achieve this, the Choir even changed its motto and borrowed Archbishop Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga’s “Ora et Labora” (Prayer and Work). This started with a piggery project when Msgr. Charles Kato allowed the Choir to use the parish sty /structure near the playground of Uganda Martyrs SS. The success of this project gave birth to all the projects the choir has to date; that is to say, wine project, candle project, liquid soap project and the public address system/disco. All these projects have helped a great deal in the day to day activities of the Choir, inclusive of members’ welfare.

From the one set of uniforms donated by Hon. Muyingo, Mrs. Frances Kitoko added another set, Ten O’clock Family members bought another set (suits), and Choir members also added seven sets from their individual pockets. The Choir treasury has also bought four sets, including one of the Junior Choir. Currently, the Choir has uniforms covering all the liturgical colours of the Church and puts on a uniform depending on the season, (same colour with the celebrant). GLORY AND HONOUR GO BACK TO THE LORD.

In another effort to improve more the Choir’s performance and conduct, members came up with an idea of visiting various choirs to learn from them. This, coupled with the desire to promote the devotion to Uganda Martyrs, has seen the Choir visit places like, Christ the King Parish Kabale, Virika Cathedral – Fort Portal, Holy Family Basilica Nairobi, St. Michael Cathedral Kigali, St. Paul Mukono, Uganda Martyrs Shrine Munyonyo, Kibiri Parish and Bumangi in Kalangala among others.[/icon_timeline_item][icon_timeline_item time_title=”2014″]In 2014 Holy Martyrs Choir made 20 years and in preparation to celebrate these years, the Choir leadership identified the need to vigorously promote the devotion to Uganda Martyrs and also improve members’ lives. Focus on members’ lives was put on spiritual and financial development, and to this effect, a Five Year Strategic Plan was drawn leading the Choir to its Silver Jubilee Celebrations.

The following were the main objectives in the Strategic Plan:

  1. Promotion of Uganda Martyrs Devotion
  2. Members’ Spiritual Development
  3. Professionalizing the Choir
  4. Eradication of Poverty
  5. Formation of an Outreach Ministry

By end the of the five years, the following achievements have been realized

    1. A Martyrs’ Concert was started in 2017 and is held every year on 1st June to prepare the faithful for 3rd June Celebrations as well as telling them about the story of the Martyrs. Special thanks go to His Grace Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, Archbishop of Kampala and His Excellency Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi, Vice President of Uganda for gracing the first concert at Pope Paul Memorial Hotel. The two attended the concert and hugely supported it financially. They also gave the Choir good advice for the future concerts.
    2. Five members have received the sacrament of matrimony and many others are committing to follow suit. This is as a result of constant retreats from priests and catechesis from our group Catechist Ms. Edigold Monday.
    3. Holy Martyrs Junior Choir was started and animates one Mass every holiday. This is meant to groom the little ones into Church service, having an ‘academy’ that feeds the main choir as well as promoting the Martyrs’ devotion among their age mates.
    4. A group Sacco was started where members borrow money to start businesses and to augment businesses.
    5. A number of needy homes and prisons have been visited through our outreach ministry. Through this office, a public address system was procured for the chapel of Luzira Upper Prison. Thanks to Choir members who contributed towards this cause directly from their personal pockets.
    6. The Choir sought services of a professional trainer, Mr. Gerald Osinde, and through his services, a number of members have upgraded their music knowledge. More music instruments have been procured and members are learning them; very soon they will be sounding in every Mass.