THE EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES REASONS FOR THE COMING OF THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES TO EAST AFRICA 1. The Christian missionaries were the European groups who came to East Africa to spread the word of God. 2. Several groups of missionaries came to E. Africa and they included: The church missionary society, the Holy Ghost Fathers, London missionary society, the white fathers and the Methodist fathers. 3. Among missionary individuals were: Father Lourdel, Dr David Livingstone, John Kraft, John Rebmann, James Grant, Henry Stanley, Richard Burton 4. The need to spread their gospel, that is to say Christianity, made them to come to East Africa. 5. The formation of the missionary groups like Church Missionary Society, Roman Catholic Church, and University Mission to Central Africa among others forced the missionaries to come to East Africa. 6. Civilization mission. The need to spread their cultures that were believed to be superior to those of East African people. 7. Need to check on the spread of Islam in East Africa. 8. Need to introduce legitimate trade.
9. Following the emergence of industrial revolution, transport means were invented and this made transport easy, hence encouraging the Christian missionaries. 10. The need to stop the barbaric slave trade which was making the east African people to suffer. 11. There was also need to stop the inter-tribal wars which were taking place in East Africa. 12. Need to know about the East African region through adventure and exploration. 13. They claimed to have come to stop in human East African cultures like killing of twins and human sacrifice among others. 14. Others came as agents of colonialism, that is to say, to administer the territories on behalf of their mother countries. 15. Yet others came to Search for employment opportunities in East Africa. 16. They claimed to have come to resettle the freed slaves in E. Africa. 17. Need to prepare East African people for partition. 18. Need to find out the economic potentials in East Africa. Some were traders. 19. Need to teach Africans how to read and write. 20. The Success of the first missionary groups encouraged others to come. 21. The French revolution that introduced the idea of equality, freedom and brotherhood also forced the Christians from France to come to east Africa and spread such ideas. 22. Requests made by some East African chiefs and kings, for example in Buganda, Mutesa I in 1875 wrote a letter to England asking the Christian missionaries to come to Buganda.