THE POLITICAL – RELIGIOUS WARS IN BUGANDA OF 1888-1892 (WAFARANZA-WANGLEZA WARS IN BUGANDA 1888-1892) CAUSES OF THE WARS 1. By 1888 there were four major religious groups in Buganda namely: the Protestants from England, The Catholics from France, The Islam from the Arab world and African traditional religion that was already in place. 2. Between 1888 and 1892, the four religious groups were in conflicts that resulted into wars. The causes of these wars were; 15 | P a g e 3. The religious groups were competing for political control over Buganda. 4. The Arabs in Buganda took advantage of their long stay within Buganda to win the support of the Kabaka. This brought wars with other religious groups. 5. The death of Mutesa I in 1884 increased conflicts and hatred among different religious group. Mutesa I had the skills of handling problems within the kingdom. 6. The rise of Mwanga to power after the death of Mutesa led to the wars. Mwanga was young and in-experienced and did not know how to handle serious issues. He was arrogant, proud and inconsistent. He even showed no serious interest in matters of the other three foreign religions. 7. The failure of the missionaries to give weapons and military assistance to Mutesa I against his enemies, Bunyoro and Egypt reduced his, for the Christians. 8. The leaders of Buganda kingdom had a weakness, that is to say they confined the different religious groups at the palace and this led to conflicts and later wars. 9. The Moslems and the Christians had traditional enmity between them and this led to wars in Buganda. 10. The presence of armed Catholics forced Lugard to give weapons to the Protestants and this increased the war situation. 11. The killing of the first converts (martyrs), forced the Christians to unite together against Kabaka Mwanga who had killed their friends. 12. The killing of Bishop Hannington in 1886 in Busoga forced the Christians to open war on the king. 13. There was a rumour that Mwanga was willing to join the protestant religion. This increased the conflicts against the Protestants by the Catholics and the Moslems as they struggled to win the favour of the king. 14. Mwanga had decided to expel all religious groups, that is to say the Protestants the Catholics and the Moslems from Buganda. This forced the religious groups to open war against him. 15. The role of traditional believers led to the wars, because they blamed Christianity for discouraging African cultures. 16. The different teaching and preaching of different religious groups caused the war. 17. The Protestants and the Catholics also had traditional enmity between themselves right from Europe. This enmity was transferred to Buganda when they came, hence leading to works. 16 | P a g e 18. The Christian missionaries were struggling to get more areas to set up their mission stations and this led to wars. 19. There was a struggle to get more followers among the various religious groups. 20. Imperial rivalry that existed between France and Britain. These countries were just behind the curtains as the wars went on. They transferred their aggression in Europe to Buganda. 21. Fredrick Lugard’s direct Sympathy and military support he gave to the Protestants. In early 1891, he gave more than 400 guns to the Protestants with aim of fighting the Catholics.
Posts