Reconstructed Christ the King church reopens doors after 6 years

Christ the King Church in Kampala has officially reopened its doors to the Catholic faithful after undergoing a six-year reconstruction.

The Shs 16 billion works began in November 2016 with the reconstruction of the priests’ residences.

According to the parish priest, Msgr Gerald Kalumba, the project faced some setbacks when the contractor, Siyan Brothers informed the architects that the initially planned renovation and extension of the church would not be possible due to the weak foundation after the demolishing of the priests’ houses and a section of the church.

“We thank the Lord who has allowed us to get back to the new structure which can accomodate quite a number of people because the purpose was to extend such that more people could come in. That extension somehow has been achieved and for the rest, the beauty and so on I cannot judge because each one has his or her own taste, otherwise, we’re happy to be in a new church which is bigger and better,” said Kalumba.

Although the cost of construction was initially estimated to be Shs 8.8 billion, the demolition of the entire church doubled the original cost, leading to additional negotiations with the contractor last year to resume work.

The contractor was yet to complete work by Easter Sunday but Kalumba said they “have been on that project for too long – almost six years and Christians don’t understand why they don’t finish so we said we have to be in the Church by the Easter of this year.”

The church can now accommodate at least 1300 Christians with two floors, compared to the past when some people would have to attend mass outside in tents.

For six years, Christians conducted their prayers in Cardinal Wamala Hall and the parking yard in the building’s basement. The church’s history dates back to 1900, as a small community of Catholics in Kampala who came from Goa, Mangalore, and South India to work on the Uganda Railways Construction project, which had reached near Kisumu in Kenya.