Fletcher T. B., Mwanga-The Man and His Times.pdf

Vol . IV.

OCTOBER, 1936,

N11. Z.

Contents,

lndlrecl Aule

by His Excellency, P . L Mitchell.

Music In Afrlc.a

by \', Banslsa.

The Bla.ck Foreal Plamies

. by Pele Pearson.

The Perfect Tense In the Eastern Bantu

Languages

A Guide to tha Snakes of Uganda,

by E. B. Haddon.

lParl VI)

by Capi. c . R. s . Pilman.

"Futki" and Somo Dthor Elo11hanls

.. by H. o . Thomas.

Soli Erosion

by N. V. Brasnott.

Mwanga, the Man and his Timss

by T. 8. Fletcher,

NOTES, CORRESPONDENCE, REVIEW AND MINUTES.

16&

Mwanga-The Man and His Times.

/Jy (THE UTi) T, f!. FLETCllU. •

Jti•nocuyrnancrtodul with the life of a man about whom oo muchhasbccn

wrincn ao abo ut Mwanga; and much of w hat is on re<:<>rd about him shOllld ""''"

ha\'C bcen writtcn, Few kncw cithcr the man himself, hi s c1wiroomcnt or lhc

~~~:.!f~"'-=~~~ th~~~ ~nc7;·~~~~~~.~~~~ 1 ~.1 yh~ 1 :,~ 0 s.~~~;~.~ 1 ::n,~~ ~~~

timchcwasamanwhowass1nncdagamst

Manyycarsago, I rcadano•·elbyCharles Readc. lnthat"o'·cl, flis""''"

fQo /a4 Io me..J, .th~re was one SCrlt<:nce which took !!old of mc- "Put younelf in

his place". Th1s 1s what I now pr?l"'M'. to aucmpt m rcgard to the man Mw•nga,

con.sidcrmg the man łumsclf, the limes m "'.luch he IL\'ed and the en''"onment in

which he movcd. My •c<iuaintan"" with h1m was from <893 uu~1l 1899, whcn he

lcft the shores of Ruganda. Du ri ng t~at ltmC l wu co11stantly 1n and out of the

Lubiri,se<:i11gmuch ofwhatwcnto111nthatc11tlMurc

------

•Mr. Fle"'l«lr, -01 tl"'Ghu "'l' ~H„ion••y llociely, dieo.I •L ll'am irem be'"' l&tJ, Januuy,

1113e, •L Uo e •oe of 66. The 1'1'"1 ol mi••ionori.,. of whioh l•~ w„ • mem\>er"""l'O<I

~~'ł.:*!ńh!:ub...=:=ri.J~\.~~1~",~:Ci~·:.0:...~.:"1,~~'i,~„::::t~\t„ 1 ~;~.~:A

prio: : i~i:~;~„~;~~=1;!'i:'e. 1 t.: ..;'~~""'"ii:'~'~,;:;i::.~~o!"!i '..:t.::k'!~U;:..:

FowincidentolnMol•~""'""'""'nbe iaola!Qd •o worthyol.-ird. ln• •t~'<>m1•li•h·

:!:~:,,~i~h~~·~=b!\::~:'!;';i~~,,df.~;..,i!"n l~"l:'~~~':~~':,\;~'::'::..; 1 ;;~::

~';"'~~~.lyoi~~~:i:: =.~„n1~'t.-!"..;'!.":;:\~;",,;~l::r.:1!.~~·b;c::';::,r.:r.~~ 01

Coo~ ==~l:i~ 1 ~bif;:.3'a"it~~·~,ti.i~::i"j~,~':~~o~~'. ll•e U_.i,, S<>ci<l7, Sir Albert

Tl>e )>l'MeolarUole had - oubml\ted b1 Mr. Fletd..,., belo..,hlo~ea!h, to tho &lilo•

ol1.he//ya<J~JJ.,..JJ,by•b-<>0uneoylll1 l1erepubllol•ed.-Edi,.,.,

,,,

Mutesa, his father and pn:decessor, die<I in October, 1884, when Mw ang3, the

~i;:~~u:u:'o""hs:;:e!~~~h~iw~„;:~h:,1~~:~ ;;:. 1 :~·,~::c~~~~ ~. ~ffc 1 ~ ... ::;"r~~~

the C~pital, li\•ing at somc disiance, as distana was acoounled in thoscodays,away

~~::~~i~~:E~~~:~ f~~~·f~~~~:~~~~~:z~?,ht:i:~;::·;z~~~;l:~ 1 ~\!f~~

callcd ~po~ tnsucceed to the throne he hedat Nkana~>a in \he CountyofBu1.1mbala,

;;d;.,~h:u~;, 1 ~.~?;' :~~~~· pe~1~~~1j 1 ~~: ~~.";~,·:,,~::~:r :;~r,·~~;~~.!t:..r.:'.~:; ~;[:

Arabsat Natctc. So sll<Jrt was the time, and at a periodofsuch un.-.:st in thcooumry,

d11unogoodrcsuhs rouldbccxpected.

M.wanga's 1cmpe".'mCnt is liOmewhat difficult '? dee.cdbc. He wu ncrYOUS ,

ouspic1ous, fiekl e, p:tS"1ona!c- a man wh- one du1rc and objec! in life was IO ln·e

hiso,..„lifctothcfull. Self in all its man_y.and \"adouo aspects was his guide.

Thercneedbenowo11dcrthathcwas•usp1c1ou•,(earfulandunlrus1ful,whenonc

realizes what had takcn place at lhe rommcncemcnt or lhe 1„·o pre,·ious reigns-

wholeoale disposal or a U who mif!:ht ha,·e ~sessffi any daim 10 1be throne of

Buganda,a11dsc<:.uri1ymanyposn1onhang1ngupona.-ery s lenderthread

A1 1hc commen,,.,mcnt of his cal"<'cr as Knbak." Mwanga wa• surrou~dtd by a

~~.";t;t!ra~:~~~~hi7i~'.i~-,~~ ~!~ 1 ;:1f~1o~~;:li:"s~~~!1~~t~11~:0~~ ~S:.~;~o'ifi-'.

all of whom were vieing with ead1 O!her to ob1nin the lcading place in the

~R;;~~. „~~'!~ ~~~~:g~~·~:~· 1~r~;:,~;~~c~ 1 :~:1~~w~~~.~1~ 1 :nd~·.i;·~;~ 1 ~

elfcct upon the adv.tmx:~en1 of 11< own particular tdea. or obJ~•. The mem.bers

~cf,a~ł~cf~~~~o;~c;f".~':~:i;. 0 ~~~;t~t:~~ t~=~~~ro, 0 ~-~t~ ~:! :;,j:~ ~~~~~

ob1air1 the fJOwerful •Jmpatloy and a""istance ofa rulcr who was a dcs[IOt and whose

!."':t~~ :t:rr":.~t~ :;;.,~;~:;:~! ~:~dd~~. ;~,f~~~~~,;~~~.:~.:~o".."1~ ~;~~:·, .• 1 r.~~~

;.~;1,, t;~·~.~ ~fn~·~t?':r ~~~~„w~o~~. ~~~~~~~~~;~!"Ji:'.' 1 ~I ~~~.;':.~.~r,.~:';

~~!·~~~~fy ~~~~~!:::i ii~:::..!.':'."N~:~ ~~;;;e;h;;tll~ 0 1ac~f.in:::~hi:',.,~:~:~~i~~

wuc ronncctcd in oncwayoranothcrwith1nnuenccsoutSidc the boundaricsof

lhe KingdomofBuganda.

Toa man or the dls[JOsition ~nd charactcr ofMwanga, thi• fact waoacau&e of

su•picion andjec.lousy. ••Uneasy lies thehead thal wears a cro„·n". Ccrt~inlJ

1hiswasall1ootrucof Mwanga, cau>ingh•m in thccarly year1 of bis rcign \o

commil terrible dceds, which wcrc iniitaled by others. The Lub<ll• Cult under the

old •l'>arons',thefeudsofthc Protestanls,ll>eRomanCatholicsandlhcMuhamm-

adans, who wcrcallat\•ariancc witheach other. „·ercthcnatural rc1ult. One

has on lytol"<'adthelcucrsofthecarlymi•sionarin,either ProtestanlorRomaa

Ca1holic,torcalizc1hisfac1. E,..,nthcnameudoptcdbythe\·ariou•fac1 ionsindicate

...

much. Thcy called thcm..,1,•cs by the na me s not of the falth or religioo profcMed,

~cus~:~,~~B~~~~~m-~:~~~i:~~ [~~ 11 ;l':~a':'C~1°:11~ 1 ~'JJ"a.tp:":":.~'{;c';:i,;r;~

Muhammadans- BnW<llabu- Arabs or Swahilis.

Herc we ha\'c a.rulcr, whosc kn_owle<lgeofthings and affai rs outside hlsown

country was non-HIStCot, fa""dw1th confusion, a confusion strcngthcncd by

the fact thai nonc of the lcaders of the oomending ractions wuc of Bapnda

~.:1~·~a~~f~„/h;-~;o~~~:~,·c;;~';,'i;;;1~~~a~:,:!:!·~„7~·~~~iS:~s;~~~:~· ifu!fZ

frorn Algicrs. The Muhammadan s wcre Arabs and Swahilio from the Co.ut. The

Ara.b s made cffectfrc use of the cvcnts which wcre 1aking place elscwhere in

Afr1 catofurthcrtl"'1rownplons, andadvocatedthc cxelusion of the white man,

knuwing full wcll thai as the wllitc man obtained power and innucncc in

the

countrytheirtradcasslave-dealcrswouldl>cdoomcd

\'/hat werc th.o mOl'ements ~hich .we ro ta king place outsidc Buganda which

would g;,.., gral"C c:oulie for ousp1don 1n the mind of Mwang1? While the,..,

may not havc uioted at that t ime a p<•1tal system, news did 1ra,·el, and son\C\imes

,·ery quickly. First, the,.., wao totł!e north of Bug•nda the 0«0upation by the

•:gyptians of the southemSudan. Onthe southandsoulh"""3sl the Germans

wcro sssuminga !'rotcctoratc, to l>c caltcd German East Africa, O•·cr what is now

T:mganyika Te.rritory. On the easl, at the Co.'.ut, lhc.....iuctiO<l of the f"'IWCr and

the sphc.-.. ofmnucncc of the Sullan of Zaniihar waspr«:ttdmg,andfromthe

~~~;; c,:;::7,;,u:,;~:: ,~:.~~c:~'ckas~~~ri,~"~~' 0 ~-a~ 1 ;,,~1t,i~~a~:=~o~r~~;.:'.'.ifr~:;h

Maoailand."'

Toa person "'itb noknowlcdgtan~no widthof,·isi on, it „·ould appcar that

Buganda was bemg m<:na<'.<:d from all po1<>t• of 1becompass. Again, the missionor-

~·q~~~ti~ !~~;~~·~-~~1~ ;~~~ ;~ :::: ~~~~~r~~-~-~i;;:':~~,:~ 1 ~u:·~~:~ 1 • 1 .'~ 1 ~"~!:.;

guests no uherior moti\·c?"

Disimerested kindncss was unknown to the natil"C

mind.

ln 188$ the Christia" panies "'ere dd\•cn out of the oountry by theMuham_m-

adans, aidcdbyadhercntsof theold rcl,gion,and Mwanga wa• dep0$<!d. Pnor

to this e,·ent there was one tcrrjble deed cnactcd and the thought of ha,•ing

~~tu~:.; 1 i~tl:u~~·i~·~,,'t~~~fs;. 0 t~~l~~~i~ntt;: :~'?a~~~.~~,\~~ 0 1';~~,;~'-~~':

tragedy will gll" Coome idea of Mwanga'satt1tudc. Fro>m time 1mmcm"1"1al tT<tdn1on

hadbc<::nhandeddownfromonegcnerationtoanoiherthat,oneday,conqueron.of

Bugandawouldappcarfromtheeast 1hroogh Busoga, Natwiths1anding the fact

thatthe Bishopwa•adl"ised not totakethat routeand alsothot~bck,,y had sent

canoesfrom BugandatoKaYirondo to mee\ him, the llisl"'P proceeded through

!lusogaandwasmurderedbytheordersofMwanga.

A few years ago, inco~p11ny with a son <>f Bishop lhnnington, Pa_ ul Honning-

ton who was District Comm1ssioner at E:ntebl>c, l had a long con,-.,rta.llOn.w"b one

oftheleadersofthebusu1ess whohadbcen $Cni by Mwangato the chief Luba,

,,,

The<o~1wers.•tioo took pia"""-' Ka„•ka in Gomhaand the indh'idual in qucotion

wu G1dconi ~tand:t, who will l>e known to many of my readcrs. Many ycaro

prc,·1ou•loth„com-cr&11ion,l had.al110talkcdw1thbothMwangaandLubaabout

du•tcag<:<ly. [ 1huslcan1ał<ifthc_1mprcss1onwhichhadt>ccngi'·cn by the fact

ofthercmo,·alofthc l!ishop'•rcmal!lS1<>Buganda forrc-buri.>I. Thellishophad

hadbeenmunlercdbyM"""ga'•ordcrsinthccountryofllusogaandhi•rcmains

„·crc buried in K"'·ir<;>•~do, bm re-buried on. Nan1irembe in Buganda somc yca.-.

la.ter. \Vith the trad1uon rcfcrred 10 nbo\"C rn his mind, Mwanga wasconfooed in

lns1houghts. _~lncby,whohadlabourttlforycarsinBuganda,dieda11hcsouth

end of Lake V1ctonaand wa$buriedthcrc. BishopParkcr,whodiedwhcnonhis

way IO Buganda '1\ MN lalo, U•u kuma, w•• buried th4'rc. The rcmains of both

~r~~~~~:!:;ji:~,~~ 1 :~~~r:!~ F.~aR~;;:~: ~'fh~";d~~u;~"!c ~/;~ ~~~ ~~~ ;:,~.·~~~

ofthedanbutnotevenoneofthcnotioobeingburied,orralhcrrc-buricd,oołm/ata

~~~~ti:;;:i i;;, ·~:~·~;,~~;~~c ~~~;~~im~1~~·r~~17;~;1:.-.:·~.~;'~u~~' ~~t ~1.i,..~.~Z bo~

man)"Ofthcold •Borons'withwhom I spokcaboutthckillingoflfannington.

The decd ha.·ing l>een eommitlcd, M„·angaand his ad,·iscrs apl"'ar to ha\·c lost

~::. c:~·~~~r ;~;~'."~~~„~~;,,!;o~,.;:;o t;~~:~::i·~1~iC~~:.~r:~1 ~~~~~#:," b:~·.~:·~

Mu hanunadons. Isl am Loohasitsrollofmartyro.

Afoc~ his dcposition, in 1888, Mw~ng;a ncd the country ~nd took refuge at

llukumbo at Lh<l sou th rnd of Lake V1etcma. During h19 ah$enee two of

his brothcro. both of whom carne 10 an unlimcly end, octupied the 1hrone in tum,

· Meanwhiletbcadhcren1•of1he twoChristianpa.rtic•,lindingBugandaunl>eorable,

went "' maMt 10 Kabul•, forly-fivc milcs wcst of Masaka, and at that time

inthcKingdomofA1lkole. Du ringthcirstay1herc Bugondaitsclfwas ina s tale

ofehaos•nd ronfusion,thc ri,·al princcs Ki"·cwa •nd Kalemal>einginronflictas

to who shou\d oceupy the throne. The eondition ofaffoir& in Kabula, •lso, wu

causi nganxicty to the rcfugccs, who werc split in10 two parties. To ha \"C two

leadcrsina smallcomniun itywasunlikelytoproveasue<:cssfolarranlr<'ment,and

tofacilitalca pt•cefulS<:tt lemcnt1hel'rotes1antandRomanCatholieparties e 1•ent•

ually uniled to ask Mw.1llga Io rctum and promised him their rommon support.

UndertheleadershipofNyonyi-Ntono,a rombilled force set outforMcngo.

The!eaderwaokillcdinonnffray Ut mu#, the late ?ir Apo!o Kagwa l>eing ap-

poiu!cd hi•succc!!..<or. Mwonga had munwhilc. Mtabhshed himsclfon Bulingugwe

~~,~!~~~r~~:~~~~:t~~~~~~;~:;'Ł~~~~; o~~~\~~ ~!~~:~d

~!~~P.,n~-'. 0 !.;:~g "'.~~w„~~~· :1~~r~ra~~h~':'.,~~ ~i;'.·i-. 1 r7:~~~~~·%~~ ~~·~1 ~~~~":.

Mw anga in\•ited himtoro~e \O his a;d. But Jackson had ordcro not \o cmer

Uganda and i! wu not unul h~ beard that a go-a.head German~[{arl Petcrs-ha.d

slippedpasthin1andwason Ius way to Mw angathat he de<:1dcd IO di!IObeyh••

::,,·;~rc~~~.C.~r;~;·~~ ·~;~ 1 ~~~ ~~o~~; i. i'1~ 9 di~ 0 ~~dc~~~~ ~~~-;:g:Y ~~a~~~.~~

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