The idea of the renovation/reconstruction of Christ the King Church started evolving in around 2009.
The current Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kampala who was then the parish priest led the construction work of the Parish Community Centre, and eventually the Platinum building. The two buildings gave a new facelift to Christ the King Parish, making it appear modern.
The story goes that when the Late Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga visited the parish, around 2007 made a comment that the modernity brought about by the new construction had dwarfed the church and it needed refurbishing.
In 2012, the mobilizing of funds to start renovation/reconstruction of the main church started and expert planners were invited in 2012 to assist and guide on what to do about the church.
Among the Architects who presented ideas, the Late Architect Henry Ssentoogo was selected to develop the plan for refurbishing Christ the King Parish Church. He did the work with a personal touch, dedication, devotion, and professionalism. He developed a plan for renovation and reconstruction which was presented to the Archbishop who gave permission to develop the plan then the architect went ahead and presented the plans to the city authorities for approval.
It took approximately four years to satisfy the City Authorities to approve the plans, which was a blessing in disguise. During those years the Parish continued building the fund for the reconstruction works.
The plan had two phases:
Phase I: The demolition of the priests’ residences and offices and reconstruction of new residences and offices.
Phase II: The renovation and reconstruction of the church. The church was to be extended in the eastern wing where the residences were and the western wing with galleries, in the east, west and north.
Towards the end of 2015 and early 2016, when the plans were approved, three construction companies were selected, namely: ROKO Construction Company, CEMENTERS Company and SEYANI Brothers Company.
The three companies tendered to Ssentoogo and Partners and eventually, SEYANI Brothers Company was selected and given the task to extend and renovate the church at an estimated cost of 8.8 billion shillings.
The Parish organised a fund-raising function in October 2016 to call the parish community to the awareness of the project. The Late Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga and His Eminence Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala were present. The Chief Fundraiser was Centenary Bank, which was represented by The Chief Executive, Late S.P. Kagugube. May his soul rest in eternal peace.
Phase I was handed over to SEYANI Brothers Company on November 01, 2016, and the work commenced with the demolition of the residences and the offices including the Sacristy. Phase I was supposed to be completed before handing over the main church.
In August 2017, the main church was also handed over to the contractor and the community started praying from Cardinal Wamala Hall projecting down into the car parking yard.
Several days after handing over the main church, Architect Henry Ssentoogo communicated that the main contractor – SEYANI – had said that it was impossible to extend the existing structure of the church and that demolition of the old church was allowed.
After demolition, the budget shot up sharply, and a fundraising dinner was organised in July 2022 to raise more funds to complete the church reconstruction project. At the same time, the Parliamentary Catholic Chaplaincy also assisted in raising funds and all the necessary effort was put in place to ensure that the community uses the Church by Easter, 2023. By God’s grace, the community returned to the newly constructed church on Good Friday (April), 2023
The estimations for the cost of the project went far beyond the earlier projected expectations but with God, the community braved the shocks and financed the project beyond anybody’s expectations. BLESSING TO THE COMMUNITY OF CHRIST THE KING for the united effort, patience, generosity, trust, and love.
Great appreciation to Architect Ssentoogo, architects team, engineers and quantity surveyors. And contractor for following the instructions of the Project Manager. May the soul of Architect Henry Ssentoogo rest in eternal peace. May Mr. P. Rwakahanda, who was part of the team attending the various site meetings, also rest in eternal peace.
Once again, A BIG THANK YOU TO YOU ALL.
