In 1875, a letter purportedly authored by Kabaka Mutesa I of
Buganda was published in England. The letter was a request for Missionaries and
hence resulted in the arrival of Alexander Mackay from the Church Missionary
Society (CMS) in 1877. In 1879, Fr. Lourdel Pierre Simon (Mapera) of the catholic
White Fathers arrived in Buganda. With the Arabs already in Buganda, there was
a 3-way race for converts. This three-way race caused anxiety at Kabaka’s (King’s)
court in Mengo. By mid-1880s, many had been converted by each of the three
groups, and some of the converts held important posts at the king’s court.
Mutesa I himself sympathized with Islam, but many prominent chiefs had become
Christians. In 1884, Mwanga II ascended the throne in Buganda. His
ruling style fell far short of the charisma and political astuteness his father
Mutesa I had demonstrated in dealing with these “bringers of faith.” 1881 marked the start of a systematic period in which
European powers sought and succeeded in annexing vast territories in Africa
(New Imperialism). There were multiple motivations for European colonizers,
including the quest for national prestige, tensions between pairs of European
powers, religious missionary zeal and internal African native politics. The annexation of Tanganyika in 1884 by the Germans was a
cause for concern to Mwanga. Tanganyika lay to Buganda’s south. To the north of
Buganda, Omukama Chwa Kabalega II had fought a fierce war of
resistance against Khedive Ismael’s agent Samuel Baker. Kabalega emerged
victorious defeating and embarrassing Samuel Baker on 14thJune 1872. Kabalega’s
encounter with Baker sealed his fate; it made him both suspicious of foreign
interests in his kingdom while giving him belief in his military abilities
against the imperialists. These tales of the great King Kabalega no doubt emboldened
Mwanga II in his bid to cement his Buganda from the influences of Christians and
Arabs. Mwanga II on 29 October 1885 had the incoming Anglican bishop James
Hannington assassinated on the eastern border of his kingdom. Joseph Mukasa, a
convert to Christianity and likely successor to Kabaka Mwanga II
protested this and on 15th November 1885; Mukasa became the first Catholic
martyr, when he was beheaded at Nakivubo. Then, between 25 May and 3 June 1886,
a wider series of executions were carried out. Mwanga instructed the killing of
all the young men who disobeyed him. In an explosive 2 year period starting 31st January
1885 with the murder of Rugarama Yusuf and Kakumba Makko at Busega and ending
27th January 1887 with the murder of Mzee Jean-Marie, Mwanga II would
martyr 45 Christian converts. Twenty-two of the men, who had converted to
Catholicism, were burned alive at Namugongo on 3rd June 1886. The secular press of the time described his victims as martyrs
as indeed did many religious publications such as Intelligencer of 1886. The
Roman Catholic Church also used the episode to make the victims the focus of a
“cult of martyrs.” On 6th June 1920, Pope Benedict XV beatified all Roman
Catholic Martyrs and Pope Paul VI canonized them on 18 October 1964. In the
ceremony of canonization of the Catholic martyrs, Pope Paul VI also mentioned
the Anglicans, saying: “Nor, indeed, do we wish to forget the others who,
belonging to the Anglican confession, confronted death in the name of Christ.”
The 3rd June feast day is included in the General Roman Calendar. A set of
postage stamps were issued in the following year by Vatican City for
commemorating the canonization. June 3rd is now a National thanks giving
holiday in Uganda. This year’s celebrations find Uganda and Africa at a
precipice vis-à-vis a changing global terrain of contest. Islamic
fundamentalists threaten the stability of the global order, Europe and America
are unsure as to how to deal with the rise of Russia and China to the East and
their influence in Africa. In Africa many of our political actors are unaware
of this cauldron of global political/social activity. It is why H.E. Yoweri Museveni joins Mama Nyerere every 1st June
to pray for the Martyrs but also for the beatification and canonization
of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere. The lessons of the martyrs awakened
in Mwalimu a love for Africa famously saying “We, in Africa, have no
more need of being ‘converted’ to socialism than we have of being ‘taught’ democracy.
Both are rooted in our past — in the traditional society which produced us.”
Like Mwalimu, president Museveni is a champion of African economic,
social and political sovereignty. It is incumbent on Africa’s political actors to always
reckon well. As Aeschylus so famously wrote: Self-will in the man who does not
reckon wisely is by itself the weakest of all things. Mwanga II did not reckon
well. Happy Martyrs’ day.
