The Uganda Martyrs
The Uganda Martyrs: Between 1885 and 1887, a group of young Muslim and Christian men known as the Uganda Martyrs were slain for their decision to stand up for their beliefs. The Kabaka (King) Mwanga of Buganda ordered the men’s execution. In 1918, two Christian men were slaughtered in the northern Ugandan town of Paimol, adding to the 22 original Catholic Uganda Martyrs. This raises the tally to 24 Catholic martyrs from Uganda.
Attackers persecuted the two young Acholi Christian martyrs from northern Uganda. The two guys were a catechist named Daudi Okello and his aide, Jildo Irwa. At midnight, the Ugandan martyrs were cruelly taken from their homes and killed by spearing. It’s crucial to keep in mind that 23 martyrs were Anglican, and a small number were Muslim, in addition to the 22 who were executed at Kabaka Mwanga’s command.
Kabaka Mwanga slaughtered most of the martyrs who worked as servants in his palace. Thirteen of the twenty-two Roman Catholics he murdered were burned alive at Namugongo. Prisoners and anybody else who became the target of the King’s wrath were put to death in Namugongo village. Nine of the surviving Roman Catholic martyrs were murdered in various places.
What led to the deaths of the Ugandan martyrs? One of the King’s counselors and the leader of the Christians at the King’s court, Joseph Mukasa Balikuddembe, was assassinated on November 15, 1885, for begging Kabaka Mwanga to spare Bishop James Hannington’s life. Anglican missionary Hannington attempted to enter the kingdom of Buganda from the east. Anyone who entered the Buganda Kingdom from this direction was considered an enemy of the Kingdom, and it was considered prohibited to do so. At the Nakivubo swamp, which is now in the heart of Kampala City, Joseph Balikuddembe Mukasa was decapitated and subsequently set ablaze.
Beginning on May 25, 1886, at the King’s royal enclosure in Munyonyo, which is located near the shores of Lake Victoria, the big executions that took place in Namugongo began. The Christian men who worked for the Kingdom were told to give up their Christian beliefs by the King. He became enraged and gave them all death sentences when they refused. He began by mentioning Denis Ssebugwawo, who was killed by a spear following the Martyrs of Uganda, who were followed that same day by the death of another Martyr named Andrew Kaggwa. Another martyr, Pontian Ngondwe, was slain by a spear on May 26 at the hands of Mukajjanga, the palace chief executioner. The body of Pontian was sliced into multiple pieces and dispersed in various locations at what was then known as Ttabataba, according to witnesses at the time. The location, which is close to Munyonyo, was subsequently called Ttakajjunge. On the morning of May 27, 1886, one of the martyrs, Athanasius Bazzekuketa, offered himself up for execution at the Mengo hill where his leader, Joseph Balikuddembe Mukasa, had been slain.
A number of other Christians who refused to renounce their faith and their employment at the King’s palace were apprehended and made to march in the direction of Namugongo in order to be executed. Slave yokes and chains on their necks and feet bound the Ugandan martyrs to one another. It should be emphasized once more that Catholic martyrs, 23 Anglicans, and six inmates who had been on death row for nonreligious offenses were among those compelled to march for execution in Namugongo.
The Martyrs of Uganda when they reached old Kampala on the route to Namugongo from Mengo, a martyr named Mathias Kalemba Mulumba refused to continue walking. Additionally, he asked to be put to death immediately, and his desire was fulfilled. He was selected from the group by the executioners, who severed his hands, legs, and a portion of his spine. He was left alone in the wilderness for three days before he passed out from thirst after the executioners applied herbs to his wounds to stop the profuse bleeding. About ten miles from the scene of Mathias Kalemba’s murder, the remaining martyrs proceeded to walk to the execution site. Gonzaga Gonza, a martyr, was so exhausted from the arduous journey that he was barely able to move as they neared Namugongo. Around noon on May 27, 1886, he fainted and was killed by spearing at Lubawo Hill. You might wish to read about the celebrations of Uganda Martyrs Day in Numogongo.
The Namugongo murders of the Ugandan martyrs
When the Uganda Martyrs eventually reached Namugongo, they were not immediately executed. Instead, they were imprisoned for an additional seven days while their executioners gathered the goods needed for the execution, such as enough papyrus reeds and firewood. These preparations continued until June 2nd. The day of execution finally arrived, which was June 3, 1886. Prior to the mass murders, a customary rite had to be carried out. Charles Lwanga, a martyr, was selected for the ceremonial sacrifice and transported to a location roughly fifty yards from the main execution site. He was allowed to prepare a wood pyre in preparation for his own demise. Lwanga was laid on the fire and slowly burned to death after being wrapped in papyrus reeds.
The remaining Uganda Martyrs were burned to death in Namugongo at about noon on the same day, June 3, 1886. Adolphus Mukasa Ludigo, Achilles Kiwanuka, Bruno Sserunkuma, Ambrose Kibuuka, James Kiriggwajjo, Mbaaga, Tuzinde, Mukasa Kiriwawanvu, Mugaaga, and Kizito, the youngest of the 12 men and a teenager at the time of the Namugongo Martyrs Lake massacre, were among them. Later, Kizito was named Uganda’s patroness of children. Remember that the Catholic martyrs were burned along with the other twenty-three Anglican martyrs and six captives.
Two sets of Uganda Martyrs were killed, as was previously indicated. Those killed at Namugongo were the first, while those killed elsewhere were the second. Athanasius Bazzekuketa and Joseph Balikuddembe Mukasa were the martyrs killed at Nakivubo Swamp outside of Namugongo. Andrew Kaggwa and Denis Ssebugwawo were killed at Munyonyo. In ancient Kampala, Pontian Ngondwe in Ttakajjunge, Noa Mawagali at Kiyindi-Mityana, John Mary Muzeeyi at Mengo-Kisenyi, and Gonzaga Gonza at Lubawo Hill in Kamuli, Mathias Kalemba Mulumba was killed. The Uganda Martyrs Shrine in Munyonyo is also covered.
What Later Happened to the Martyrs of Uganda?
The bodies of the Ugandan martyrs who were transported to Namugongo did not eventually burn to ashes. The executioners eventually left the scene after making every effort to keep the corpses burning to ashes by adding fuel to the fire, but they were unable to do so. With the Martyrs, the executioners witnessed something they had never seen before. Even as they slowly burned to death in the flames, their victims sung praise and worship songs and voluntarily embraced their fate. Many of the executioners permanently resigned from their positions. Following the Uganda Martyrs’ deaths, the execution site was never utilized to carry out any executions.
Because it was against the law to bury someone who had been given a death sentence by the King, the executioners did not bury the bodies of the martyrs who had died. Such individuals were viewed by the locals as undeserving of respectable funerals, and anyone found engaging in such behavior was accused of treason. Three Christians, identified as Matayo (Mathew), Lewo (Leo), and Kirevu Bwaliri Kamya, entered the prohibited death site covertly approximately six months later. They gathered the bones of Charles Lwanga, the first victim of the murders, and brought them to the Uganda Martyrs Shrine, where Father Simeon Lourdel is a spiritual pilgrim. After cleaning and wrapping the bones in a scarlet cloth, the priest placed them in a copper box and buried them in the church’s sacristy in Nabulagala. Later, this church was destroyed by fire and left standing as a result of the religious conflicts that had erupted in Buganda. The copper box was lost as the chapel site turned into a thicket. Nevertheless, a catechist found the copper box while working his farm on October 13, 1893. Due to political unrest, the box was sent to Father Hirth in Tanganyika in 1899. Henry Streicher, the Archbishop of Buganda at the time, later returned the box. Charles Lwanga’s remains were housed in the Archbishop’s chapel until 1964, when they were transported to Rome for the canonization ceremony. When the current Namugongo Martyrs shrine was built, portions of Charles Lwanga’s relics were returned for worship, and all the other martyrs were also declared saints. His remains remain at the Uganda Martyrs Shrine in Namugongo, serving as a continual reminder of the Ugandan martyrs’ valor.