The Uganda Martyrs are a group of 22 Catholic and 23 Anglican converts to Christianity in the historical kingdom of Buganda, now part of Uganda, who were executed between 31 January 1885 and 27 January 1887

They were killed on orders of Mwanga II, the Kabaka (King) of Buganda. The deaths took place at a time when there was a three-way religious struggle for political inuence at the Buganda royal court. The episode also occurred against the backdrop of the “Scramble for Africa” – the invasion, occupation, division, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers. A few years after, the English Church Missionary Society used the deaths to enlist wider public support for the British acquisition of Uganda for the Empire. The Catholic Church beatied the 22 Catholic martyrs of its faith in 1920 and canonized them in 1964.

Publication in Britain of an 1875 letter purporting to be an invitation from the king of Buganda, Muteesa I, to send missionaries, resulted in the arrival of Alexander Mackay of the Anglican Church Missionary Society to Buganda in 1877. A group of French Catholic White Fathers, led by Père Simon Lourdel (Fr. Mapera) appeared two years later. Arab traders from Zanzibar had introduced Islam into the kingdom. This effectively led to a three-way religious struggle for political inuence at the Buganda royal court. By the mid-1880s, many had been converted by each of the three groups, and some of the converts held important posts at the king’s court. Muteesa himself sympathized with Islam, but many prominent chiefs had become Christians.

Kabaka Mwanga II succeeded to the throne in 1884. He was concerned at the growing inuence of Christianity and the rise of a new class of ofcials, distinct from the traditional territorial chiefs, who were educated, had a religious orientation, and wished to reform Ganda society. The German annexation of what is now Tanzania sparked further alarm.

A year a er becoming king he ordered the execution of Yusufu Rugarama, Makko Kakumba, and Nuwa/Noah Serwanga, who had converted to Christianity. Encouraged by his prime minister, on 29 October 1885 he had the incoming Anglican bishop James Hannington assassinated on the eastern border of his kingdom.

This may have been deliberately intended to send a message to the British that he did not wish for them to make inroads in Uganda. It is also alleged that the murder of Bishop James Hannington was due to a myth at the time that enemies that would destroy the Kingdom would come from the East, the direction which the Bishop was coming from. Thus, the Kabaka had chief Luba of Busoga Chiefdom in the East execute the Bishop. Mwanga did, however, subsequently appoint several Christians to important military positions.

In 1886 Mwanga ordered the executions of many members of the royal court for refusing to yield to his religious demands, which he saw as insubordination. Heike Behrend says they were both Christian and Muslim converts; other sources speak only of Anglican and Catholic victims, and mention the killing of Muslims as having occurred ten years earlier at the hands of Mwanga’s father Muteesa. Joseph Mukasa, a convert to Christianity who had deplored the assassination of Hannington, and had tried to protect the court pages, was the rst to be executed on 15 November 1885: this was at the instigation of the Katikkiro (prime minister) Mukasa, whose successor Joseph Mukasa was tipped to become king. Then, between 25 May and 3 June 1886, a wider series of executions were carried out. Mwanga instructed the killing of all the young men who disobeyed him – partly to satisfy the demands of the older chiefs. Twenty-two of the men, who had converted to Catholicism, were burned alive at Namugongo in 1886.

The Uganda Martyrs arrived at Namugongo but were not killed immediately on arrival. They were instead conned for more 7 days while their executioners were organizing all the necessary supplies for the execution like adequate rewood and papyrus reeds. These preparations went on until the 2nd of June. The execution day eventually came and that was on the 3rd of June 1886. A traditional ritual had to rst be performed before the mass killings begun. One Martyr by the names of Charles Lwanga was chosen for the ritual sacrice and then taken away to a place which was about 50 yards from the main execution ground. He was permitted to organize for his own death by preparing a pyre made out of wood. Lwanga was wrapped in papyrus reeds and then placed on the pyre where he slowly burnt to death

At around midday on the same day of 3rd June 1886, the rest of the Uganda Martyrs were burnt to death at Namugongo. The 12 men included Adolphus Mukasa Ludigo, Ac hilles Kiwanuka, Bruno Sserunkuma, Ambrose Kibuuka, James Kiriggwajjo, Mbaaga, Tuzinde, Mukasa Kiriwawanvu, Mugaaga and Kizito who was a teenager and the youngest of them all. Kizito was later declared the patron saint for children in Uganda. It is important to note once again that the Catholic Martyrs were burnt together with other 23 Anglican Martyrs and 6 prisoners.

As earlier mentioned, the Uganda Martyrs were killed in two groups. The rst are the ones who were killed in Namugongo and the second were those killed in other locations.

The martyrs killed outside Namugongo were Joseph Balikuddembe Mukasa and Athanasius Bazzekuketa who were murdered at Nakivubo swamp. Denis Ssebugwawo and Andrew Kaggwa were murdered at Munyonyo. Mathias Kalemba Mulumba was murdered in old Kampala, Pontian Ngondwe in Ttakajjunge, Noa Mawagali at Kiyindi-Mityana, John Mary Muzeeyi at Mengo-Kisenyi and Gonzaga Gonza at Lubawo hill in Kamuli.

The Uganda Martyrs who were taken to Namugongo eventually died but their bodies did not turn into ashes. The executioners tried all their best to continue burning the corpses to ashes by continuing to fuel the fire but they couldn’t succeed so they eventually abandoned the site. The executioners had never experienced what they saw with the Martyrs. Their victims accepted to be killed willingly and sang songs of praise/worship even as they slowly burnt to death in the flames. Many of the executioners abandoned their execution roles for good. The execution ground was never used as a place for executing more people a er the death of the Uganda Martyrs.

Conclusion
The martyrs were crazy, indeed, they were crazy for God. Their faithfulness to God was so strong that they did not give in to human weaknesses. They never showed even the slightest sign of weakness but with courage and prayer on their lips they died. Their conviction in God was beyond explanation.