KAMPALA: Emmanuel Katongole, the Papal Knight and chairperson of the central organizing committee for the function noted that given the fact that a few people had been invited for the function, they drafted a budget of Shillings 250 million.
Katongole explained that the budget excluded services and goods pledged in kind by individuals or institutions.
As it is usually done in the catholic church, part of the money was collected through church structures with each parish contributing a specific quota for the function. Another portion of the budget was funded by individuals and institutions.
“In a space of two weeks, the budget had been fully funded and surpassed giving the function momentum as everything moved smoothly as planned,” Katongole noted.
Although the new Archbishop of Kampala, His Grace Dr. Paul Ssemogerere had visualized a function with 30 guests, the cathedral was fully packed with many of the guests failing to secure a seat inside thus occupying several tents erected outside the cathedral.
Speaking out on the enormous expenditure, Archbishop Ssemogerere said he wanted a simple function, with at least 30 people and a function lasting about 30 minutes given the circumstance but, the selected organizing committee secretly started preparing for a huge event.
Dr. Ssemogerere said when he learned about their arrangements, he wanted to halt their preparations but members advised him to stop looking into their work and wait for his installation.
There have been discussions among the faithful and the general public about the huge budgets of church functions with many describing them as extravagant.
However, Katongole says that it’s pretty hard to have a function hosting a big congregation and rule out the possibility of huge expenditure.
Archbishop His Grace Dr. Paul Ssemogerere was installed 4th Archbishop of Kampala Archdiocese on Tuesday, January 25, 2022. Some of the dignitaries at Lubaga Cathedral to witness the installation of His Grace Archbishop Paul Ssemogerere were former VP Edward Ssekandi, Gov’t Chief Whip Thomas Tayebwa, Higher Education State Minister JC Muyingo, and NUP President Robert Kyagulanyi.