The Genesis of Faith: Christianity’s Arrival and Ascent in 19th Century Uganda

Christianity’s arrival in Uganda was a relatively late event compared to its spread in other parts of Africa. It was in 1877 that the first missionaries reached the court of Kabaka Muteesa, nearly a century after the initial missionary surge from Europe. Yet, within a mere 25 years, Uganda had transformed into one of the most remarkably successful mission fields across the continent. What factors contributed to this extraordinary triumph?

Any exploration of Christianity in Uganda – a nation shaped by the contours of late 19th-century colonialism – must commence with Buganda. This ancient, independent kingdom, nestled on the northern shores of the lake the Baganda call Nalubaale (the abode of the balubaale gods) and which the British later named “Victoria,” possessed a sophisticated system of governance under a Kabaka (king). This system was notable for its high degree of centralization and internal cohesion, a relatively unusual structure for the region. Another significant characteristic of Kiganda society, crucial in understanding Christianity’s eventual success, was its remarkable adaptability and openness to change.

In 1856, Kabaka Muteesa inherited a kingdom that already held the position of the strongest in the region. During his extensive 28-year reign, he further consolidated and expanded this power. A key element of Muteesa’s strategic approach was to open Buganda to the wider world. He actively encouraged Swahili and Arab traders from Zanzibar to exchange their cotton cloth, firearms, and luxury goods for ivory and slaves. However, external influences extended beyond mere trade; Islam soon began to exert a profound religious and cultural impact on Buganda. By the time Christianity arrived, the influence of Islam had already been felt for a generation.

The Expanding Influence of Islam

In the 19th century, two major “world” religions – Islam and Christianity – were both making significant inroads into Africa. Often, they found themselves in intense competition, a dynamic certainly evident in Buganda. However, this rivalry should not obscure the fact that Islam and Christianity were also, in many ways, complementary. Both were referred to as “dini,” distinguishing them from the traditional African religious heritage. Both offered a comprehensive “worldview,” a universal framework for understanding life with its opportunities and challenges. Such systems increasingly resonated with societies like Buganda, which were being drawn into a larger global context. In this sense, Islam, despite its competitive relationship with Christianity, prepared the ground for its arrival in several ways. In fact, Christianity arrived at a strategic juncture – when Islam had stirred certain needs and aspirations among the Baganda, particularly the desire for literacy among the young pages (bagalagala) at court, but before Islam had become so deeply entrenched that Christianity could not gain a foothold. Christianity was able to capitalize on this pre-existing interest in literacy, leveraging its printing presses and the distribution of affordable books in the local language or Swahili to satisfy this desire to a far greater extent than Islam could.

Furthermore, Islam had introduced concepts that Christianity would later emphasize. The idea of a holy book, a sacred day of the week, a God above all other deities who was invested in the affairs of this life and the moral conduct of individuals, and the expectation of bodily resurrection and judgment after death – these were all notions pioneered by Islam that found further elaboration and emphasis within Christian teachings.

However, the extent to which the Baganda already acknowledged such a supreme God is a subject of debate within the religious historiography of Buganda. While they knew of Katonda, the Creator, his status remains a point of contention. Was Katonda merely one, perhaps an insignificant, lubaale? Or had he always been regarded as superior to the balubaale, high above figures like Mukasa, Kibuuka, and Muwanga, yet perceived as distant from the daily lives of the nation and individuals, and therefore not the central focus of a strong religious cult? Regardless of the precise answer, it is evident that Islam gave a new prominence to Katonda, and Christianity built upon this growing significance.

Thus, within a society already receptive to novel ideas and responsive to the technological, cultural, and religious influences of the outside world, first Islam and then Christianity made their mark on Buganda in the latter half of the 19th century. But if the Baganda were so open to the message of a “world-religion,” why did they not simply remain with Islam? How did Christianity not only mount an effective challenge to Islam but eventually become the dominant dini of Buganda, relegating Islam to the position of a small, albeit resilient, minority?  

The answers to this question lie not in any inherent superiority of Christianity over Islam, but rather in the volatile political landscape of those years.

Muteesa’s Shifting Allegiances and the Rise of Suspicion

For a decade, from 1867 to 1876, Muteesa strongly supported Islam. He acquired some knowledge of Arabic, attended and even led prayers in a mosque constructed at the lubiiri (court), and mandated the observance of the Ramadan fast. Muteesa possessed a genuine intellectual curiosity regarding the tenets of Islam. However, as a ruler, his primary concerns were inevitably matters of state. He viewed Islam as a religion that, under his patronage, could enhance his own power. The powerful balubaale cults were not always as amenable to royal control. But by 1876, the basis for his encouragement of Islam was being undermined by the ambitions of Muslim Egypt, which sought to incorporate the headwaters of the Nile (including Buganda) into an Egyptian Empire. The visit of Egyptians to Buganda in 1876 triggered a crisis in Muteesa’s relationship with Islam. They criticized the Qibla (direction) of the court mosque and the fact that the uncircumcised king led Friday prayers. They also urged Buganda Muslims to strictly adhere to Islamic dietary laws and to refuse to consume meat slaughtered by the Kabaka’s butchers. The subsequent defiance of a number of young bagalagala (pages) led to the execution of approximately 100 Muslims at Namugongo, a traditional execution site in Buganda. For Muteesa, this was not merely a matter of insubordination, serious as that was, but a confirmation of his fears that Islam was becoming a politically subversive ideology.  

It was around this time that Henry Morton Stanley visited Muteesa. For the Kabaka, the arrival of the Muzungu (European) presented a welcome opportunity to counter the Egyptian threat and to establish contact with the actual source of the technological innovations that the Muslims had introduced but did not originate.

The Arrival of Christian Missionaries (1877)

Stanley’s widely publicized letter to the Daily Telegraph presented a highly romanticized portrayal of Muteesa, depicting the Kabaka as a great, enlightened despot eager to embrace the Gospel and swiftly propagate it throughout his kingdom. The reality, as the missionaries soon discovered upon reaching Buganda, was quite different. Nevertheless, the letter did elicit a rapid response in Britain. The Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS) hastily assembled a group of enthusiastic missionaries. The first two representatives of this group arrived at Muteesa’s court on June 30, 1877, having journeyed from Zanzibar along the route pioneered by the Swahili traders. Eighteen months later, on February 17, 1879, a group of French Catholic White Fathers arrived, also via the East Coast route.  

The presence of these competing versions of Christianity immediately sparked controversy. The CMS understandably viewed this as a deliberate attempt to undermine the Protestant missionary endeavor. The Catholics, equally understandably, could point to their long-standing plans for the evangelization of the lake region of Eastern Africa and their unwillingness to be overshadowed by the fleeting emotions aroused in Britain by Stanley’s arguably misleading letter. They could also highlight the limited and insubstantial nature of the CMS presence in those early years.

This rivalry must be understood within the context of centuries of conflict and warfare between Catholics and Protestants in Europe. In these years (1877-1890), the competition was personified by two individuals: Alexander Mackay and Fr. Simeon Lourdel (“Mapera”). Both were young men in their twenties upon their arrival in Buganda, and neither was the head of their respective mission. Both held strong prejudices and relished the vigorous exchange of theological debate, or rather, polemic. The confrontation was described as a “scandal to Christendom” (Kiwanuka). However, this spectacle was also greatly appreciated by those at court, who admired the dialectical skill with which each missionary defended his version of the faith. It is also important to note that the rivalry between the two religious groups aligned well with the traditional factionalism of court life. It served to encourage competition and zeal among the Baganda converts and was a contributing factor to the success of Christianity in Buganda. For Christian believers, this presents the first of many “contradictions” in the success of Christianity in Uganda: that fervor for the Gospel was fueled by prejudice, partisanship, and polemic. Even more scandalous aspects of this rivalry would emerge later with the “wars of religion” and the ruthless scramble for political power in the 1890s.

The First Converts and Growing Suspicions

Both Protestant and Catholic missionaries soon attracted considerable interest, particularly from the young pages at court, many of whom began to frequent the missionaries’ compounds. These basomi (readers, as they were called) – enquirers, catechumens, and from around 1881, the baptized – began to form small groups of believers in different sections of the lubiri. The Protestants were particularly numerous at the Gwanika (the treasury/armory), under the patronage of Chief Kulugi, a consistent friend of the Protestants, though not a Christian himself. The Catholics developed a strong following in the private quarters of the Kabaka, indicating the greater favor they tended to enjoy. Both Muteesa and later Mwanga came to regard the Protestants with some suspicion. This seems to have originated from the links that the CMS had with General Gordon, who was acting as an agent for the Egyptians in Sudan. (The second group of CMS missionaries had arrived from the north). Since missionaries had been invited to Buganda specifically to counter the threat from the north, these connections were detrimental to good relations with the Kabaka. Moreover, the Arabs at court increasingly denounced the missionaries as agents of European imperialism. In 1882, the British actually bombarded Alexandria in Egypt, a prelude to a gradual takeover of the country. CMS missionaries protested their lack of connection with their government, but they could not always resist pointing out the might of the British Empire. In the end, the authorities’ suspicions proved justified – by the 1890s, the CMS missionaries were openly advocating a British takeover of Uganda, although it is not to say that they were conscious agents of imperialism in the 1880s.  

The Catholic Withdrawal and Lingering Influence

The Catholics did not face the same level of suspicion, largely because the French government had little interest in East Africa at this time. Nevertheless, the favor they did enjoy was precarious. Mapera incurred the active hostility of the Muslims at court through his flamboyant and extravagant denunciations of Islam. In 1882, the White Fathers withdrew from Buganda altogether. This was a surprising decision, and even now, the precise reasons for their withdrawal are not entirely clear. However, it seems that they were particularly concerned about the corruption of their orphans and freed slaves by homosexual practices infiltrating their orphanage from the nearby lubiri. These orphans were, by and large, not Baganda. The practice of redeeming slaves to provide a nucleus for Christianity was still a major element of their mission strategy in Buganda, and this may be a sufficient explanation for their withdrawal to the perceived moral haven of Bukumbi, south of the lake. This withdrawal did not signify an end to Catholic activity in Buganda – the pages continued to meet, and an increasing number of neophytes were taught. Responsibility for the propagation of the faith grew among Baganda Catholic converts.

Muteesa’s Final Years and the Succession of Mwanga

By 1897, Muteesa had come to the realization that a complete alliance with one of the Christian groups was neither practical nor desirable. (The insistence of both on monogamy was a fundamental obstacle, but other factors were also at play.) Muteesa decided to align himself with none of the new dini, while allowing them to remain and extracting whatever advantages he could from each, without allowing any single group to gain excessive power in the country. Muteesa was a consummate master of this political balancing act. His successor, facing a much more challenging international climate in the late 1880s, proved incapable of maintaining control.

Mwanga succeeded his father in October 1884 at the age of 18. Mwanga seems to have lacked strong religious convictions – he was a skeptic in an age of faith. His homosexuality further alienated him from the missionaries. Like all Kabakas at the beginning of their reign, Mwanga needed to assert his authority over all elements and factions within the country, including the foreign missionaries (the White Fathers had not yet returned, so initially this primarily meant the Protestants). This general need to assert his authority, coupled with personal antagonisms with the three missionaries present (especially with Ashe), led to the deaths of the first three Baganda Christians on January 31, 1885. The young Protestant martyrs, Makko Kakumba, Nuwa Serwanga, and Yusuf Lugalama, were all members of the mission household. The missionaries had been warned against becoming a focal point of political power or discontent against the young Kabaka.

The Deaths of Bishop Hannington and the Uganda Martyrs

Whatever his personal views on Christianity, Mwanga, like his father, was primarily concerned with the political implications of the new religions. By 1885, this was causing significant anxieties. The Muslim threat from the north had receded with the Mahdist rebellion in Sudan in 1881. However, a new and greater threat to Buganda’s independence suddenly emerged from the East African coast with the intrusion of German imperialism in early 1885. It was fear of a European invasion that principally led to the death of the 37-year-old Anglican Bishop James Hannington in Busoga on October 29, 1885. Hannington was either unaware of or chose to ignore the precarious position of the Christian community within Buganda and the dangers, in the international climate, of approaching Buganda via the politically sensitive “back-door” of Busoga. Hannington was killed on the orders of the Kabaka. His death is often attributed to a fickle and vengeful young king, but this is arguably unfair to Mwanga, who was certainly acting on the advice of his leading chiefs – including the normally friendly Kulugi. From the Kiganda perspective, Hannington’s death was a legitimate act of state, intended to ward off a potential invasion.

Nevertheless, it proved to be a political miscalculation. Hannington had not been leading an invading army; his caravan had been ridiculed for its small size on its journey from the coast. Hannington’s death had repercussions within Buganda, leading to further killings of Christians. Only two weeks later, on November 15, 1885, Joseph Mukasa Balikuddembe was brutally killed for daring to criticize the Kabaka for the murder of the Anglican bishop. Balikuddembe became the first Catholic martyr.

In May and June 1886, a large-scale massacre of Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, took place. Many were executed at Namugongo, the traditional execution site also used for the Muslim martyrs of 1876. The immediate cause of the killings was the Kabaka’s anger at the disobedience of his Christian pages, particularly their refusal to engage in homosexual practices. Charles Lwanga, the Catholic head of the pages in the king’s private apartments, had been particularly vigilant in protecting the Christian boys under his charge from the advances of the Kabaka and some of the chiefs.

However, in addition to young pages, a significant number of the victims were minor chiefs: men such as Andrew Kaggwa and Matthias Mulumba for the Catholics; and Robert Munyagabyanjo, Nuwa Walukaga, and Freddie Kizza for the Protestants. The youngest page, Kizito, was around 14 years old; some of the chiefs were in their fifties. Some of these chiefs were victims of particular grudges held by their superiors – for example, Katikkiro Mukasa, the Prime Minister – who were jealous of these ambitious young men who were likely to soon displace them from power.

Undoubtedly, these Uganda martyrs (who included individuals from Bunyoro and Busoga as well as Buganda) died believing and trusting in Christ as their Savior. They sang hymns on their way to their deaths, preached to their persecutors, and held a strong belief in life after death. Their courage and fortitude made a profound impression on those who witnessed their deaths. However, secular historians have understandably been cautious about accepting wholesale the simple pieties of hagiography. The deaths of these Christians must be viewed within the context of the traditional precariousness of life at court and the deeply ingrained habits of obedience that generally led Baganda to face death philosophically if the Kabaka so desired. This perspective would place the Christian martyrs within the long tradition of the kiwendo, the ritual sacrifice of a number (kiwendo) of victims at the instigation of one of the balubaale. Conversely, it has also been argued that these Christians were rebels against the Kabaka, unwitting tools of foreign imperialism. There is some truth in all these assessments, both traditional and modern, religious and secular. Historical reality is complex and does not lend itself to simplistic explanations. The martyrs are a part of that complex reality.

The Wars of Religion (1888-1892)

Whatever the initial motivations of the missionaries, the traumatic events of 1885 and 1886 convinced many of them that foreign intervention might be the only long-term solution to secure the future of Christianity in Buganda. Meanwhile, however, events within Buganda followed an internal logic that initially had little to do with external affairs. The persecution of Christians (perhaps 200 died in total) was not part of a coherent strategy to eradicate Christianity.

By 1887, Mwanga had begun to rely on the younger generation of Baganda leaders – and this meant relying on many who were converts to the new religions. Backed by official favor, the leaders of the three religious groups (Muslims, Protestants, and Catholics) began to import large quantities of arms and organize themselves into militarized “regiments” – the first time Buganda had anything resembling a standing army. These soldiers were nicknamed bapere and gained considerable notoriety for their high-handed attitudes, rape, and plunder. It is one of the ironies of the Christian history of Uganda that the witness of the martyrs (strong in faith but politically and militarily weak and powerless) should have convinced the survivors that the future of Christianity depended on securing military and political power. Moreover, these regiments attracted young men