The coming of British influence in northern Uganda

Genesis. An illustration of an Ethiopian trader and a local chief. Before coming of the British to northern Uganda, ivory trade was dominated by Ethiopians. ILLUSTRATION BY IVAN SENYONJO

What you need to know:

  • Concern. Britain was concerned about the expanding influence of King Leopold II in the area. King Leopold II’s ambition was to extend his empire from Congo to Zanzibar and northern Uganda.

In their quest to build a nation, the British brought different entities under their control to make the present day Uganda.
One such area was Acholiland which was at one point controlled by the Khedive of Egypt. When the Egyptian rulers extended their area of influence in the 1820’s to as far south to what was known as the equatorial province, covering the entire Sudan, they came as far south as northern Uganda.
They used Nubians from southern Sudan as administrators to consolidate their control over northern Uganda.
There were a number of reasons why the British were reluctant to bring the area under their control. The reasons varied, but the geopolitics of the scramble for Africa forced them to take control of the area.
According an article in the Journal of African History of 1962 by A.D. Roberts, the British alleged that Acholiland was “as an area occupied by a tribe of a quite different and inferior order and its people perceived as naturally lazy”.
In the book Moving Frontier of British Imperialism in Northern Uganda by J.P. Barber, he says when commissioner Henry Hesketh Bell visited the area in 1906 he described it as “a country with little or no promise of successful development in which I cannot think of a single product that might be grown…which will pay for the cost.”
Barber went on to say, “No tribe in Northern Uganda were seen neither as potential threats to established British interests nor as potential allies to share the burden of administrative expansion.”

British arrival
It was Maj L. Macdonald who first raised the British flag at Paraa on the banks of River Nile before moving on to Wadelai and later at Guruguru in Lamogi. Macdonald’s expedition was to forestall any other European interests in the area.
Britain was concerned about the expanding influence of King Leopold in the area. King Leopold II’s ambition was to extend his empire from Congo to Zanzibar and northern Uganda.
When in 1899 Sir Harry Johnstone came to Uganda as a special commissioner, he focused on establishing an economic and efficient administration in northern Uganda, relying on the ivory trade which was then dominated by Ethiopian traders.
When Fredrick Jackson became the governor later on he was alarmed at the lack of administrative control in Acholiland and how the Ethiopian ivory traders had exploited the administrative vacuum.
Besides the loss of revenue from ivory trade, the new governor was concerned about the rate at which the local chiefs were getting guns from the Ethiopian traders in exchange for the ivory. These guns fuelled inter-clan fights.
In 1910, part of Acholiland was brought under the Northern Province for effective British administration. The provincial commissioner of Northern Province, F.A. Knowles, wrote in his report: “The matter of Ethiopian hunters and tribal fights is of utmost importance as there is little doubt that in the near future a considerable force will be necessary to deal with these natives and ivory hunters. The situation becomes more dangerous every day, unless prompt measures are taken to deal with the situation at once.”
Knowles’ report prompted the governor to appoint an officer to control ivory traders and enter relations with the northern tribes.
Not contented with just military control of Acholiland, in 1911 governor Jackson introduced civil administration in the whole of northern Uganda stretching from West Nile up to Gulu. The rest of the Acholiland came under British administration in 1913 with the creation of Chua district with its administration offices at Kitgum.

Impact of British administration
The first concern of the civil administration was the firearms that were fuelling inter-clan and tribal wars. The first political administrator Tufnell was faced with the challenge of winning over the different rwots (chiefs).
In his memo at the national archives dated January 16, 1912, Tufnell says: “These tribes are not like tribes previously dealt with in other parts of the Protectorate.”
In the last quarter of 1911, firearms ordinance which allowed the British administrators to disarm the natives, was introduced.
The ordinance allowed disarmament to acceptable levels. Whether by design or default, the disarmament efforts killed the rwot system. They instead imported the Kiganda form of leadership from Buganda.
Writing in Buganda Sub-imperialism, Andrew Roberts says: “From the outset, the British were convinced that the Kiganda model of local government would be the most viable and probably the cheapest, also therefore, this should be exported into all parts of the protectorate. The Buganda system of Lukiiko chief’s council and civil service chiefs at county, sub-county and parish levels offered a uniform system for the whole protectorate, Acholiland included.”
This was the beginning of the changes in the Acholi political structure. The first civilian administrator in Acholiland was J. Postlethwaite.
In his book I look Back, Postlethwaite says: “I became so discouraged by the absence of any real chiefs with definite, permanent tribal authority that I found my mind turning for salvation to the old Buganda agent policy of eastern Uganda.”
As the British authority in the area took hold chiefs who were deemed uncooperative, were replaced with collaborators even though they were not from royal families.
R.M. Bere, the second British civil administrator in Acholiland, in his article titled Land and Chieftainship among the Acholi in the Uganda Journal of 1955 says: “Many of the traditional chiefs were dismissed, retrenched or retired, and others were transferred. New chiefs were appointed irrespective of clan or family.”
People such as Rwot Okello-Mwaka was imposed on Puranga, while Rwot Aliker of Payira was given authority over the Labongo clans.
Rwot of Atyak was deposed in 1927 for failing to implement a government order and replaced by Atoyo Jakanya from Patiko. In some instances such imposed leaders were opposed by the locals. In some places the locals attacked and killed the British imposed chiefs. In Puranga, Rwot Okello Mwaka was attacked and killed and his killers were executed by the Gulu District Commissioner J. Postlethwaite.
He talks of their execution in his book I look Back, saying: “Our warrant chief became very unpopular and was murdered by his enemies. I tried these murderers, sentencing four to a long term imprisonment and four to death duly carried out in Gulu one early morning.”
Collaborating chiefs such as Olia of Atyak supported the executions, further deepening the wedge in the community. Chief Olia remarked on the execution saying: “That is the best show you have put up since you have been here. That has taught all the Acholi to be government men, and when can we have another?”
It could have been colonial policy to force people into submission through such executions. According to the correspondence from the Provincial Commissioner Northern Province of January 19, 1917, to the district commissioner of Chua, “…if the villagers are going to resist the authority of the chiefs, every action must be taken and a good lesson given so that others will not follow suit.”

Education
Like in other parts of the protectorate, it was the missionaries who provided education services. Acholiland was no exception. Since the colonialist had taken over the appointment of the chiefs, they turned to the missionary-educated as their choice of chiefs. Such chiefs were nicknamed rwodi kalam (chiefs of the pen) as oppose to the ritually anointed chiefs they called the Rwodi moo.
In 1948, an idea of having a paramount chief for the entire Acholi District to preside over the small chiefs developed.
Several titles were suggested, including lawir rwodi (the head of the chiefs), rwot Acholi (chief or king of the Acholi), Laloyo maber (the winner is good) and rwot madit (the big chief).
At the peak of these proposed changes was a fierce struggle between the Payira and Padibe as one of them wanted to establish a model of the Buganda Kingdom in Acholiland.