How Mayanja helped found Uganda’s first political party

Abu Mayanja was the brain behind the Uganda National Congress (UNC). He wrote most of its documents, including its constitution, edited its magazine called Okwegatta, and wrote most of [Ignatius] Musaazi’s speeches when they were still working together.

The UNC was the first Ugandan-wide political party to emerge in colonial Uganda. It was the first major organisation in the country to call for the unity of all “tribes” of Uganda in order to overcome colonial rule.

Mayanja was very much involved in the foundation of the Uganda National Congress in 1952. He was still an undergraduate student at Makerere when he joined Musaazi in the formation of the UNC. Musaazi became its first chairman and Mayanja its first secretary-general. The founding of this organisation followed a ban by the Protectorate colonial administration of the Uganda African Farmers Union, of which Musaazi was the leader.

After forming the Federation of Partnerships of Uganda African Farmers (the Federation), Musaazi and Mayanja were ready for the formation of a political party. It is believed that their ideas were influenced by Fenner Brockway, a Labour Member of the British Parliament, and an American “volunteer” Dr George Shepherd, (who was believed to have been working for the CIA to ensure the containment of communism in emerging African political organisations).

I think, however, the idea of forming a political organisation in Musaazi’s mind emerged from his previous efforts to better the condition of African farmers. Most of the regional members of the UNC were connected to, or were, members of the Federation of Partnerships of Uganda African Farmers (or the “Federation”).

Mayanja, who became UNC’s first secretary-general, worked for the “Federation” on a part-time basis. Using the structures of the Federation, Musaazi, assisted by Mayanja, launched the UNC at Aggrey Memorial School. The Uganda Herald of March 8, 1952 reported that a meeting of representatives of “all tribes” of Uganda held at Aggrey Memorial School unanimously approved the formation of a Uganda-wide party, called the Uganda National Congress. Mayanja signed the press release putting out the information that UNC had been formed. At that moment, Musaazi’s adversaries were the Mengo establishment, who implemented colonial policies.

In a subsequent meeting of the same organisation that took place at the African Editors’ Club, Mengo, Musaazi, and Mayanja stated that the UNC had seven objectives: 1) Unification of all tribes in Uganda; 2) Encouraging the growth of democracy in Uganda; 3) Self-government for Uganda; 4) Unification of all races in Uganda (tribe referred to only Africans); 5) Securing full democratic rights; 6) Promotion of universal suffrage; and 7) Co-operation with other organisations

By July of 1952, the Organising Committee of the UNC was composed of Musaazi, Mayanja, Rev Wakadala, Mukasa, and Matovu from Buganda, Abwongoto from Teso, Daka Katamba and Bazarabusa from Tooro, Olyech and E. Engur from Lango, Mungoma from Bugisu, and Lwamafa from Kigezi.

In an interview with Ibrahim Semujju Nganda, Mayanja stated that “I helped [Musaazi] to draft the Constitution, I used my experience as the Makerere Guild Council secretary where I used to take minutes to write briefs for Musaazi. Apollo Kironde, my teacher at King’s College Budo, taught me some politics.”

Voice of UNC

Mayanja helped Musaazi in finding answers to difficult questions. For example, when asked by an Asian reporter what he meant by placing the economy in the hands of the people, Musaazi could not give an immediate response. Mayanja jumped to his rescue and said, “There are two types of Asians and Europeans in this country. There are those who come here temporarily to accumulate enough money and go home. But there are others who come to make Uganda their homeland. It would be quite wrong to leave the second type of Asians and Europeans out of the National Congress.”

In the initial stages of establishing the UNC, Obote was not interested in the independence of Uganda. He doubted whether the “Semi-Hamites and Nilotes” would benefit from an independent Uganda. However, Mayanja told us that he spoke to him and assured him that UNC was for all tribes in Uganda.

In the initial years of 1952 to 1960, Mayanja’s political struggles were underpinned by his desire to establish democracy in the state’s governance, enhance social justice, unite Uganda, eliminate corruption, and increase education provision to Africans. He saw the Uganda National Congress as the necessary political organisation to achieve his aims. He identified and fought with two main social groups he thought were in the way of democratising Uganda.

These were the traditional elements that controlled African local governments on behalf of the colonial state, and the colonial government that represented the imperialist power.

Struggle against Mengo

[Mayanja] clashed with the Mengo establishment on many occasions and wrote many letters against the obstructions of the establishment in frustrating efforts to create participatory politics in Buganda. But the Mengo Establishment did not like such ideas. A number of them ruled because of being born royals, or appointed by the colonial government and protected by the 1900 Agreement.

Democracy would not guarantee their privileges to rule and access the resources of the kingdom. He, therefore, clashed with them on several occasions. A few instances illustrate this point. First, the Daily Mail of London is reported to have heard Mayanja saying “our first task will be to kick out the British and find a way of government which may or may not include the king.”

According to Stone, Mayanja came under “considerable criticism in Buganda Government circles and the vernacular press” for this statement. But Mayanja insisted that he was speaking of Uganda and not Buganda. At that material time, he saw no place for the Kabaka in a Ugandan government cabinet.

Unlike the Mengo Establishment, which boycotted the first countrywide elections in Uganda in 1958, Mayanja argued very strongly for Buganda to participate in direct elections as one sure way of establishing democracy in Uganda. In a letter to Otema Alimadi, he expressed the need for the UNC “to declare its stand for modernism, democracy, and equality.”

In another letter to Dr BN Kununka, he urged UNC to vigorously campaign for the 1958 elections to the Legislative Council (the Legco). On November 8, 1958, while speaking at a public rally, he reiterated the UNC slogan of “Self-Government Now” and insisted that both the Legco and the Lukiiko should be directly elected. However, unlike other politicians and many of our founding fathers, he specified the democratic nature of the future postcolonial state he wanted Uganda to become.

Crossing of the rubicon

Secondly, Mayanja argued for direct elections and, to that effect, wrote possibly the most hard hitting letter on democratising Uganda ever produced by any of the country’s founders of the postcolonial state. The “Crossing of the Rubicon” letter in Uganda Argus of March 6, 1958, and volumes of others in the local and foreign press as well as speeches in Parliament and political rallies establish Abu Mayanja as the foremost intellectual star of Uganda’s independence struggle, 1952-1961. He produced more ideas on independence, and the nature of the state Uganda should be after independence than any of Uganda’s politicians of the period. The “Crossing of the Rubicon” reveals a number of dimensions in that struggle.

The first and last paragraphs of the letter read as follows: “Sir, the threat by the Kabaka’s Government to sabotage direct elections for Legislative Council in Buganda is so full of ugly possibilities for the future that it is high time somebody did some very straight-talking to the reactionary elements in Buganda who seem to imagine that somehow Buganda can contract out of the 20th Century and revert to a system of administration when the delicacy for guns used to be tested on human beings […]”

[Adding:] “Speaking for myself, I have crossed the Rubicon. I have set my face firmly against any autocracy, whether it be foreign and imperialist or native and feudal. I stake my future and dedicate my life to the realisation of democratic principles in my country, no matter from which side the obstacles may emanate. This is a declaration of political faith, and I call on other intellectuals to do likewise.”

The Protectorate officer, whose assignment seems to have been watching Mayanja’s activities, wrote to the Colonial Office that “…as Mayanja must have anticipated, this letter brought much criticism on his hand, from traditionalists, but he continued to argue valiantly for Direct Elections.”

In a letter published in the Uganda Argus on April 16, 1959, he went so far as to say that whilst he freely admitted that the Lukiiko had, on various occasions, brought things beneficial to Buganda “this does not mean that the Lukiiko is infallible, or that it is incapable of acting unwisely, or even selfishly, on other occasions.”

Relationship with colonial officers

Mayanja clashed with colonial officers on issues of speeding up the transfer of power to Africans, African participation in the colonial state’s decision-making structures, equality, and freedom of movement in and outside Uganda. The students’ strike at Makerere introduced Mayanja into national politics and gave him tools for fighting the centralisation of power, which he thought leads to bad governance and dictatorships.

Protectorate officials were irritated by Mayanja’s sharp criticism of colonial policy. To reduce his attacks, they pointed out to him that he should not be involved in politics while he was still a student on a government scholarship. They told him that it was not right for him to criticise the administration that was making the funding of his studies possible.

On various occasions, Mayanja was told to focus on his studies and stop engaging in politics. On October 16, 1957, when Mayanja was leaving for studies in the UK after a short visit to Uganda, he was warned by the Chief Secretary that the government would not tolerate mischievous public speaking while he was in receipt of a government scholarship, and unless he mended his ways in this respect, the government would have to consider withdrawing his scholarship. But Mayanja did not take heed.

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