Mwanga II of Buganda

Reign Mwanga came to the throne at the age of 16. He increasingly regarded the greatest threat to his rule as coming from the Christian missionaries who had gradually penetrated Buganda. His father had played-off the three religious traditions – Catholics, Protestants, and Muslims – against each other and thus had balanced the influence of the powers that were backing each group to extend their reach into Africa. Mwanga II took a much more aggressive approach . The deaths took place at a time when there was a three-way religious struggle for political influence 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.

"I am Mutesa's son, and what Mutesa was in Buganda that I will also be, and against those who will not have it so I shall make war." Mwanga to Karl Peters, 1890

"The English have come; they have built a fort; they eat my land; they have made me sign a treaty; they curtail my powers; and I get nothing from them in return." Mwanga after signing treaty with Captain Frederick Lugard, 1890

"Abalangira Ttimba, buli afuluma amira munne." [Princes are like pythons, they swallow (usurp) each other.] Mwanga after defeating the Muslim faction, 1893

"When I die it will be the end of the kingdom of Buganda. Europeans will take over (eat) this country of mine." Mwanga before joining forces with Kabalega, 1898

Quotes about Mwanga II "To his (Mwanga's) distorted view the missionaries were men banded together for the undermining of his authority, for sapping the affections and loyalty of his subjects and for ultimately occupying the whole of Buganda." Henry Morton Stanley, In Darkest Africa, 1890

"... there was, however, much good feeling and even tenderness in his character when he could be kept from bad habits and was free from evil influences." John Roscoe, Twenty Five Years in East Africa, 1921

"Mwanga was a jovial, friendly person who had many friends." Batolomewo Zimbe, Buganda ne Kabaka, 1939, p. 53.

"Mwanga fought to free himself and his country of the intruders for all his reign. He did not like or want them; he was impressed by their power, but not interested in their ideas. He could not recover the old way of life nor adapt himself to the new, and in his perplexed and unhappy groping in the gap between he seems to me to deserve some sympathy." Kabaka Mutesa II, Desecration of My Kingdom, 1967

"He had wanted to be master in his own house, but unfortunately for him and for the monarchy, chieftainship triumphed over royal authority in a manner that had never happened before." MSM Kiwanuka, "Kabaka Mwanga and His Political Parties", 1969

"When Mwanga was brought to the capital as a captive the administration expected the people to be happy now that the enemy of their peace and religion was going into exile. On the contrary, people wanted him pardoned." Fr. John-Mary Waliggo, The Catholic Church in Buddu, 1976

"Mwanga ... was demonstrably unequal to the task of controlling the foreigners who were subverting his kingdom under his very nose. He did not have the experience or the prestige that had enabled his father to keep foreigners in their place within his kingdom." Samwiri R. Karugire, A Political History of Uganda, 1980

"Mwanga was quite right to seek to be the master in his own kingdom just as his forefathers had been, all his excesses and fault of character notwithstanding. Some of his predecessors had been guilty of worse acts of cruelty and injustice and nothing drastic had befallen them. In other words even if all the charges levelled against Mwanga by his numerous Christian and Muslim detractors were true, he was still right to claim supreme authority in the kingdom of his forefathers." Samwiri R. Karugire, A Political History of Uganda, 1980

"... Mwanga struck them (Ganda elders) as being kinder and gentler than Mutesa had been while a youth. For sheer tyranny, Mwanga II was easily outclassed by his father, grandfather and great grandfather, each of whom was remembered in Ganda tradition at the time of the British colonial take-over as having become uncontrollable at some stage during their respective reigns. This is something Mwanga never became." Morris Twaddle, Kakungulu, 1993

"No Kabaka of Buganda had ever faced the challenges that Mwanga faced, dealing with mighty religious parties which eventually drove him from the throne and his kingdom." Samwiri Lwanga Lunyigo, Mwanga II, 2011, page 4

"Mwanga II should be judged within the context of nineteenth century Buganda, where kings had absolute executive, legislative, judicial, military and even economic power. To see him through the lenses of his foes, those who took away the sovereignty of his country and their local collaborators is to miss him. He cannot be understood through the fairy tales of his enemies who denounced him." Samwiri Lwanga Lunyigo, Mwanga II, 2011, p. 35