Banyoro, Muslims unite to kick Buganda in the groin

When he was ousted from power on September 10, 1888, in a coup d’état masterminded by Baganda Chiefs and supported by the missionary factions, Mwanga left as king.

When he returned to power in October 1889 with the support of the same missionary factions and loyal chiefs, he did so as a pawn. Such was the diminished power of the Kabaka in this political chess that it was Apolo Kaggwa, who was doing the bidding of the missionary factions, that appointed new officials of the regime on October 19, 1889 led by himself as Katikkiro (prime minister).

Before Mwanga could attempt to consolidate his position, the defeated Muslims regrouped and launched an attack, trying to restore their own pawn, Rashid Kalema Muguluma, as Kabaka.

Kalema courts ally
After his defeat on October 5, 1889, Kalema had successfully appealed to Omukama Kabalega of Bunyoro for support. Kabalega, resurgent and at the peak of his powers, did not get along with Mwanga and saw this as an opportunity to install a client regime in Buganda.

He thus provided an army equipped with 300 guns which, together with the remnants of the Arab forces and Kalema’s own loyal fighters, attacked Mengo in November 1889 and forced Mwanga to desert his capital and flee to Bulingugwe Island.

Kalema’s Muslim forces had already distinguished themselves in savagery, tying their captives to tree stumps and setting them on fire – a grisly event that came to be referred to as ‘Okwokya emberenge’ or roasting human popcorn because of the popping sounds made as body organs exploded.

The Banyoro fighters added to this gory spectacle by cutting off the testicles of their victims and keeping them as trophies.

Violence, disease
Kalema was himself no stranger to sadistic violence. In his excellent book, Mwanga II, Prof. Samwiri Lwanga Lunyiigo notes that as a young man, Kalema’s favourite hobby had been plucking the eyes out of live rats before graduating to crimes against humans.

The Muslim attempts to retake Buganda and re-establish an Islamic sultanate as a client state of the Sultan of Zanzibar were dealt two fatal blows.

A combination of a smallpox epidemic in the area, drought and famine claimed the lives of many Muslim fighters (Kalema would succumb to the disease and die a few months later in April 1890). An estimated 20,000 people in and around the Buganda capital are believed to have starved to death in the famine of 1889.

Mwanga, who had shifted his base to Namalusu Island to avoid the plague, kept his forces alive by encouraging them to grow a new, drought-resistant food crop – cassava – that had been obtained from the kingdom of Karagwe in Tanzania.

After reorganising his army under the command of Gabudyeri Kintu and Semei Kakungulu, and with the Muslims weakened, Mwanga was able to defeat the Muslims and retake the throne in February 1890.

War and disease had taken their toll. On February 4, 1890 the Protestants had lost Alexander Murdoch Mackay, who died of suspected malaria after ailing for four days. His main rival for power, Father Siméon Lourdel would follow him a few months later on May 12.

There followed a temporary lull in the violence but the political fighting and scheming was only starting. Although the civil wars that raged in Buganda during this time have been described as religious wars, available evidence shows that the cassocks worn by the religious leaders and their converts were only a cover for political ambition amongst the Baganda chiefs.

The two Christian factions had tried to paper over their cracks by signing an agreement on February 3, 1890 vowing not to attack each other.

However, Mwanga had signed this agreement as a Catholic and, in a culture where people paid allegiance to the Kabaka even on matters of religion, the White Fathers therefore retained an edge and tensions remained between the two factions.

Those tensions were about to be stocked. In November 1889, while at Bulingugwe Island, Mwanga had, at the urging of Charlie Stokes, written to Fredrick Jackson of the Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEAC), through Fr. Lourdel, asking for his support against the Muslims.

In his letter, written from a position of weakness and desperation, Mwanga promised generous concessions in exchange. He would offer the Company a monopoly of trade in Buganda, 3,500 pounds (1,587 kilogrammes) of ivory upkeep for Jackson’s men and acceptance of the IBEAC flag – in reality the Union Jack – over Buganda.
Jackson apparently promised to come to Mwanga’s aid by December 15, 1889, but he did not arrive as promised and Mwanga’s forces were left to procure their own victory.

That could have put an end to that matter. However, the European interest in colonising the interior of the continent, earlier seen in the 1884 Berlin Conference, was well and truly underway.

On March 4, 1890, Jackson, who was travelling in present-day western Kenya, and had shown little urgency towards the affairs in Buganda, returned to his base at Mumias and learnt that the German adventurer Dr Karl Peters, had passed through the town a month earlier.

Peters was on an expedition from the coast to rescue Emin Pasha in case Stanley failed in a similar endeavour. Before arriving in Mumias, he signed a treaty with Chief Sakwa in a nearby territory (the chief was unable to read the letter which was written in German) declaring the village to be under German protection, and promptly raised the German flag.

Then, arriving in Mumias, he convinced the guard that he was part of IBEA, was let in and rummaging around, opened Jackson’s letters and read them, learning not only that Stanley had found and saved Emin Pasha, but also, belatedly, that Mwanga in Buganda was ready to accept foreign assistance.

Peters immediately made a dash for Buganda, arriving in Mengo on February 25, 1890.

When he learnt of Peters’ actions, a shocked Jackson immediately made arrangements to travel to Buganda and stake his claim on the territory – never mind that he had failed or refused to come to Mwanga’s aid at the Kabaka’s time of need.

Continues tomorrow

[email protected]