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 On 3 June
1886, thirty-two young men, pages of the court of King Mwanga of Buganda,
were burned to death at Namugongo for their refusal to renounce
Christianity. In the following months many other Christians throughout the
country died by spear or fire for their faith.
These martyrdoms totally changed the dynamic of Christian growth in Uganda.
Introduced by a handful of Anglican and Roman missionaries after 1877, the
Christian faith had been preached only to the immediate members of the
court, by order of King Mutesa. His successor, Mwanga, became increasingly
angry as he realized that the first converts put loyalty to Christ above the
traditional loyalty to the king. Martyrdoms began in 1885. Mwanga first
forbade anyone to go near a Christian mission on pain of death, but finding
himself unable to cool the ardor of the converts, resolved to wipe out
Christianity.
The Namugongo martyrdoms produced a result entirely opposite to Mwanga's
intentions. The example of these martyrs, who walked to their deaths singing
hymns and praying for their enemies, so inspired many of the bystanders that
they began to seek instruction from the remaining Christians. Within a few
years the original handful of converts had multiplied many times and spread
far beyond the court. The martyrs had left the indelible impression that
Christianity was truly African, not simply a white man's religion. Most of
the missionary work was carried out by Africans rather than by white
missionaries, and Christianity spread steadily. Uganda now has the largest
percentage of professed Christians of any nation in Africa.
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