Namugongo 'martyrs' were not really martyrs

Dear Ugandans,
I have been thinking about the Uganda Christian 'martyrs' prosecuted on June 3,1886 at Namugongo and its significance to Uganda as a country. I'm now pretty convinced that 'Uganda martyrs' did not really deserve to be called 'martyrs' as in martyrs because that means that all people killed in the line of defending their faiths qualify to be called martyrs. We should also explore as to why Kabaka Mwanga who was the Kabaka of Buganda at that time took the decision he did to prosecute the martyrs in question.

Now it is my understanding that within the Bugandan culture the execution of the Christian martyrs was both political and religious. It is the Buganda kingdom that invited the first missionaries who arrived in 1877 and the kingdom benefited tremendously from them particularly in developmental projects like schools. So we thank the insight Kabaka Mutesa 1 had at the time to invite these people.

Nevertheless, I'm still puzzled that we continue to call these people 'martyrs' due to the fact that they challenged the power structures of the Bugandan culture at the time because of their faith. If we are to go by the Muslims who keep challenging the power and social structure of the western countries because of their faith, then the word 'martyr' is not truly applicable to these people. Muslims or Christians who attempt to do today what these 'martyrs' did during Kabaka Mwanga's reign will feel the wrath of the law and some are even branded terrorists. However, we should not forget that those who die in this way in places like the Middle East are still branded as 'martyrs' by some Islamic factions but their countries do not give them public holidays to celebrate their death as we do in Uganda in regard to the Namugingo martyrs. In Bugandan culture, which the kabaka (leader of Buganda) represents, the kabaka ruled with great authority, and to refuse anything he asked was not only to offend the kabaka but to dishonour the entire Bugandan kingdom. Mwanga perceived that Christians were a challenge to his political power, since Christian pages were not honouring and were taught not to honour their obligation to obey him. If we are to continue to call these Christians killed at Namugongo martyrs, then we have got a lot of martyrs now in Uganda.

Secondly, it is important at the outset to realize that the persecution of Christians in Uganda was not the norm. There were relatively few Christians actually killed for religious reasons compared to the large number of Christian Baganda. So I don't think Kabaka Mwanga set out to kill Christians as in Christians or Protestants as in Protestants.

Thirdly, all of the martyrs were Bugandan natives converted through the missionary efforts of British Anglicans and French Catholics. Thus, their lives and deaths were embedded from start to finish in a culture they were familiar with and understood; they were not killed due to a lack of cultural knowledge or a “foreigner's mistake.” A man like Joseph Mukasa was the personal servant of the kabaka who oversaw all of the kabaka's pages. He knew what he was getting himself into by confronting kabaka Mwanga over murder of Anglican Bishop Hannington. Mukasa told Mwanga “bluntly” that his ordering of the death of Hannington was wrong; this angered Mwanga, and Mwanga took Mukasa's outbursts as a form of treason. Mukasa knew the drill about Buganda cultures at the time very well. To disagree with the Kabaka was not uncommon in Buganda but Mukasa's assertive confronting of Mwanga was unique. The Kabakas used to allow passive forms of resistance and there were effective. Lastly, Mwanga chose Namugongo as a spot to execute these people because to die at Namugongo made one an enemy of the Buganda state. Namugongo was an equivalent of the England's “Tower Hill.”

Personally, I don't think we should continue to call the 1886 Namugongo religious people 'martys' in the sense of the word in relation to the present events happening in the world. However, I'm happy to say that Buganda kingdom has changed greatly since that time. There is a lot of religious freedom. Catholics, Protestants, Christians and Muslims can all interact within the kingship of Buganda without any problem. It is more reason for Ugandans to support this kingdom that is not afraid of changes that make it stronger. What Kabaka Mwanga did at that time is inexcusable but at least we all learnt from it but most importantly we understand why he did it.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
United Kingdom
God bless you!