Ahead of this year's Martyr’s Day celebrations on June 3, the Uganda Martyrs Catholic Secretariat at Namugongo has sought the technical expertise of National Water and Sewerage Cooperation (NWSC) to carry out tests on the quality of the 'holy water' from the Martyrs lake.
The pilgrims and faithfuls have often given testimonies that the water from the man-made Martyrs lake, heals them of various ailments. As a norm, pilgrims scamper with jerry cans to get a share of the water after the day's service.
A recent study conducted by the department of Biochemistry from Makerere University, indicated that the ‘holy water’ contains pathogenic micro-organisms such as E.coli, and coliforms, a type of bacteria known to cause diarrhoea, urinary tract infections, respiratory illness and pneumonia, abdominal pain, and fever.
The Catholic Shrine rector Rev Fr Vincent Lubega notes that they have found it important to run quality tests to ensure that pilgrims don’t consume contaminated water. He adds that samples have already been taken by a team of experts from NWSC.
"The water first of all looks dirty but let us remember this is not a swimming pool, it is like a pond with clay on the bottom, but if you turn on the tap, it is not dirty. So far to address that concern, we have already contacted National Water and they have taken some samples and we’re waiting for an update." Fr Lubega said.
NWSC spokesperson Samuel Apedel confirms that they have picked samples and they currently being subjected to different tests.
"The request was made by the church, the tests have been conducted and the results will come out and we shall communicate to the church. They just wanted to test the water quality that is the standard practice almost everywhere for an open source of water, you check for contamination." said Apedel.
Fr Lubega adds that over time they have been advising Christians to first boil or treat the water before drinking it, in vain.
"However much you talk, people will drink it and it is upon us to take caution. Water which is open, is not so good to drink straight away because there are some impurities in it. And I would suppose that whoever takes it will take caution even in the environment in which you collect it." Fr Lubega added.
The rector is optimistic that after running the samples, NWSC will help them treat the water to ensure that it is clean and safe for consumption. In the recent years, the church has tried to innovate treated, branded and bottled water from the Uganda Martyrs lake but the faithful have failed to adapt to this as they prefer drawing their own water in jerrycans which they take to their respective homes at the end of the celebrations.