@vber_store: TITLE: MWANGA THE GREAT BY: vber_sore Ssekabaka Basammula-Ekkere Mwanga II Mukasa, remembered as Mwanga the Great (3 June 1868 – 8 May 1903), was the 31st Kabaka of Buganda. He reigned from 1884 to 1888 and again from 1889 to 1897. Born in Nakawa, the son of Ssekabaka Muteesa I and Abakyala Abisagi Bagalayaze, Mwanga ascended to the throne on 18 October 1884. Unlike his father, he recognized missionaries as agents of colonial expansion and prudently prepared. By the late 19th century, Britain and other European powers had embarked on a systematic campaign of looting and murder across Africa. Missionaries acted as advance agents of colonialism, using religion to pacify African societies for European takeover. In 1884, the Berlin Conference formalized Europe’s plan to plunder Africa. In response to growing subversion caused by Christian and Muslim colonial emissaries (“missionaries”) his father had allowed into the nation, Mwanga executed 25 of their collaborators between 31 January 1885 and 27 January 1887. They were later canonized as the Uganda Martyrs. The British seized on this as a pretext for deeper interference. Through smear campaigns and religious divisions, they armed and funded groups opposed to Mwanga. In 1888, British-backed forces deposed him and installed Kiweewa Nnyonyintono, later replaced by Kalema Muguluma. Mwanga reluctantly negotiated with the British, who intended to annex Buganda. On 26 December 1890, under duress, he signed a treaty with Frederick Lugard, ceding significant authority over Buganda’s revenue, trade, and legal systems. Refusing to surrender to British imperialism, Mwanga declared war on 6 July 1897. At Buddu he was defeated and sought refuge in Karagwe but was captured by German colonialists allied with Britain. He was deposed in absentia on 9 August 1897. Even then, Mwanga’s resistance did not end. He escaped prison, returned to Buganda with a great army, and rallied the revolutionary army against British colonialism. On 15 January 1898, he was captured, tortured, and exiled to the Seychelles in April 1899. While in exile, he was forcibly baptized into the Anglican Church and named Danieli (Daniel). Yet his spirit of resistance remained unbroken. He continued denouncing British looting and oppression, urging his people to continue the struggle against colonial barbarism. Mwanga died in Seychelles on 8 May 1903, weakened by torture and starvation. His remains were repatriated and buried at Kasubi on 2 August 1910. Mwanga The Great is remembered as Buganda’s first Kabaka to openly and decisively resist European colonial aggression, standing as one of Africa’s earliest anti-colonial leaders and a symbol of defiance against European plunder. #art #africanart #africanhistory #vberstore

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Friday 06 November 2026 13:01:05 GMT