By Patience Namuddu
MUBENDE — About 15 metres from a tree that has drawn believers to Boma Hill for generations, another tree is quietly becoming a new centre of prayer.
There are no official signs declaring it the new Nakayima.
But for some believers gathered beneath its branches, that distinction hardly matters.
They say dreams led them to the tree after a large branch of the ancient Nakayima Tree fell in December 2024, killing five people who had gathered at the site for overnight rituals. The tragedy prompted authorities to restrict access to the old tree over safety concerns.
Today, the old tree remains standing behind a protective barrier.
A few metres away, believers are continuing prayers and rituals around another tree, which they regard as Nakayima’s successor.
The development has opened a new chapter in the history of one of Mubende’s most significant cultural sites and raised questions about the future of cultural heritage, conservation, safety and tourism.
When the old tree fell
For generations, Nakayima Tree, located on Boma Hill in Mubende Municipality, has been associated with the Bachwezi and has attracted believers seeking blessings, healing, prosperity and spiritual intervention.
Local traditions associate Nakayima with the Bachwezi dynasty and describe the site as a place of spiritual significance.
The tree itself has unusual buttress roots and formations that believers interpret through their cultural traditions.
Mubende Municipal Council describes Nakayima as one of the municipality’s major tourist attractions and links the site to the Cwezi era and the traditions surrounding Ndahura and the Bachwezi. The municipality also identifies the site as a worship centre.
The shrine has also attracted tourists and researchers interested in its cultural and historical significance.
But on December 4, 2024, the site’s history took a tragic turn.
A large branch broke from the tree and fell on pilgrims who had gathered for traditional rituals ahead of an annual thanksgiving ceremony.
Five people died, according to police reporting, while others were injured. Authorities subsequently sealed off the site and deployed security to prevent people from gathering beneath the tree.
The tragedy forced authorities to confront a difficult question: how could a culturally important site remain accessible without putting visitors at risk?
In February 2025, authorities allowed prayers to resume at the shrine but maintained restrictions around the old Nakayima Tree. The reopening followed appeals from devotees and discussions about safety and the condition of the tree.
A new place of prayer
It is against that background that the nearby tree began attracting attention.
Michael Lubega known as Jjajja Bamweyana, a tour guide at Nakayima Shrine, says that after the tragedy, believers went for months without a designated place where they could conduct their rituals.
Then, he says, people began arriving with similar accounts.
“After the fall of the branch, it took us months without a proper place where rituals could be performed. But many people came with a message. At first, we did not pay much attention to them, but when the number increased, we decided to implement what Nakayima had guided,” Mr Lubega said.
According to him, several people independently reported dreams in which Nakayima directed them towards the same tree.
The reports eventually persuaded custodians to allow believers to use it for prayers and rituals.
Mr Lubega says believers also see similarities between the new tree and the old one.
“The new Nakayima Tree also bears features of nine walls like the old one, and rituals or prayers are performed just as they were at the old one,” he said.
For believers, the development represents continuity.
The old tree may be inaccessible, but the tradition associated with Nakayima, they say, has not ended.
Protecting what remains
The story of the new tree, however, is inseparable from the condition of the old one.
Following the 2024 tragedy, authorities warned visitors against gathering beneath the old tree.
The restrictions were aimed at preventing another tragedy, but they also had a conservation dimension.
The tree’s condition had deteriorated, with local authorities raising concerns about practices that could contribute to its decay. In February 2025 the local leaders criticised the application of oil on the tree and warned about its declining condition.
The challenge is therefore bigger than simply deciding where believers should pray.
It is about how Uganda protects a living cultural heritage site while allowing communities to maintain traditions that give the site meaning.
The question becomes even more important as attention shifts to the new tree.
Unlike the old tree, which has already been at the centre of official safety interventions, the new shrine is still emerging.
Its growing popularity could create new conservation challenges if visitor numbers increase without proper management.
From sacred site to tourism opportunity
Nakayima is also a tourism asset.
Mubende Municipality identifies the site as a major tourist attraction, while the municipality’s physical development planning documents have proposed preservation and development of cultural sites, including Nakayima, to promote cultural tourism. The plan highlights visitor information, guides and better presentation of cultural heritage as potential interventions.
Research conducted at Makerere University has similarly identified Nakayima’s potential for cultural and heritage tourism while warning that development should be sensitive to cultural values and sustainability.
That creates an opportunity but also a responsibility.
If the new tree attracts more visitors, how will it be protected?
Who will manage access?
How will cultural practices be respected?
And how can tourism revenue benefit the surrounding community without turning a sacred tradition into a purely commercial attraction?
These questions are becoming increasingly important as the shrine continues to attract both believers and visitors.
A tradition searching for a home
Standing at Boma Hill, the contrast is striking.
The old Nakayima Tree remains behind its barrier, carrying the scars of age and the memory of the tragedy that changed the site.
A short distance away, people gather around another tree.
They pray.
They make requests.
They observe traditions they believe have been passed down through generations.
For them, the sacred tradition has found another home.
But for conservationists, cultural custodians, tourism authorities and local leaders, the emergence of the new tree presents a different challenge: how to ensure that the search for a new spiritual centre does not create another safety or conservation problem.
Nakayima’s story is therefore no longer only about an ancient tree.
It is about what happens when a living tradition outlives the physical landmark around which it has been built.
The old tree may have lost its place at the centre of rituals.
The tradition, however, continues.
And just metres away, another tree is beginning to carry its weight.