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Yet another sphere where the Buganda question
appeared, although not necessarily with specifically political implications, was
within the religious groups in Uganda. For example, when the English
archbishop of the Anglican church in Uganda announced that he would retire in
1965, much manoeuvring took place and eventually the election was postponed for
several months, in order to make it possible for a Muganda prelate to be among
the candidates. Considerable indignation was felt by some over what they judged
to be the rather unseemly tactics of his supporters, however, and the electro
collage, a body of nine bishops, including only two Baganda, the others being
from the Eastern, Northern, and Western regions of Uganda and from Rwanda and
England.When the collage finally did meet, in January 1966, it chose some
one else to be the new Archbishop, a Munyankole, (Westerner). Whether or not
pto-and anti-Baganda feelings actually played a part in the whole process is
difficult to say. Certainly other, more specifically religious issues were
involved. The event was talked about in those terms, however, and the new
elected Archbishop felt it necessary to use the first occasion on which he spoke
to the public to deplore the use of these terms and to express the hope that
such feelings were not in fact involved. A more explicit political appearance of
Buganda question occurred within the African Muslim community in Uganda. A
numerically much smaller group than either the Roman Catholics or the Anglicans,
the Muslims have never the less been of some importance in Uganda politics
because of their over representation among the small traders and Taxi-Drivers.
These positions put them regularly in touch with relatively large numbers of
people in the ordinary course of their work, and they consequently played an
important role in organizing local UPC and DP branches. If the Roman Catholics
have felt some what aggrieved about their position in Uganda society, however,
the Muslim have have felt really discriminated against --which, in the kind of
consciously Christian society that was being developed in Uganda during
overrule, they undoubtedly were. Consequently, when it was announced in the fall
of 1965 that a new group, The National Association for the Advancement of
Muslims (NAAM) was being formed to promote the Muslim cause, considerable
interest was aroused.
The interest was provoked as much by NAAM's
principle sponsor, however, as by its aims, for its leader was A. A. Nekyon, a
Langi (Northerner) and a relative of Obote, who was not only in Obote's cabinet
but also one of his closest associates. The traditional head of the Muslim
community in Uganda, Prince Badru Kakungulu, was a Muganda and a relative of
Mutesa, while another Muganda, Abu Mayanja, a Cambridge educated lawyer,
founding member of the old ANC, and leading spokesman for KY untill he joined
the exodus to UPC in the summer of 1965, was its most articulate
representative in National politics. Nekyon naturally coupled the announcement
of the new organisation with an attack on the community's existing leadership,
and specifficallychallenged Kakungulu with being, among other things, too much
of a Muganda and too involved in KY. It was both a well-timed move and an
effective appeal, and NAAm quickly gained support not only where it would be
expected to, in the Northern Districts and Bunyoro, but also to some extent in
the other Western districts and Bunyoro, but also to some extent in the other
Western districts and in the East, and not only among the ordinary Muslims
but also among the Sheiks. The Baganda leadership reacted promptly, for they saw
in NAAM a clear threat to their hegemony within the Muslim community and an
instrument of a distinctly political nature, and among other steps, they
resurrected an organisation they had started sometime back but had then let
disintegrate, the Young men's Muslim association (YMMA), YMMA immediately
initiated several projects to counter NAAM's influence, one of which, the
translation of the Koran into Luganda, suggests that NAAM may even have made
some head way among Baganda Muslims. Something more should be said at this
point about another important source of strain in Uganda. The tension between
Roman Catholics and Anglicans, Uganda, as was said earlier, has been
somewhat a battle ground between the adherents of the two religions throughout
its history, and their competition, which always had a highly political
character to it, took an openly political form out side of Buganda in the 1961
and 1962 elections, when virtually all Catholics supported DP and all Catholics,
as a result supported UPC. Uganda in this period thus exhibited an unusual
politics for an African country, because untill then there had been no place on
the continent where political and religious lines of cleavage had parallel one
another quite so closely. Even before the 1962 elections, however, The Roman
Catholic Church had began to reconsider its policy, and during these elections
the upper levels of the hierarchy openly deplored the virtual equivalence of
church membership and party preference. Following the elections the four groups
involved, the two churches and the two parties, called for a lessening of the
politically exacerbated religious tensions and a withdrawal of religious groups
as such from participation in politics. The appeal was fairly successful and the
heightened feelings of the election years died down following independence. But
the basic tension remains near the surface and may once again become important
in Uganda's politics.
This would seem especially likely to happen
under conditions of political instability and uncertainty, when those who
are merely one's competitors under normal conditions all of a sudden seem to be
wearing masks and engaged in conspiracies. In October 1965, for example a
good many roamers were circulating about possible communist and counter
communist coups in conjunction with the independency celebrations,and there was
in general an air of suspense and impending change. (Nothing in fact happened at
the time, although not all the roomers, apparently, were unfounded) In this
expectant atmosphere, it is worth recording one of the roomers which
circulated quite widely and was even printed in a local news paper as an
unconfirmed report to the effect that Uganda Catholics, in order to bring
about the national government's down fall, were clandestinely organizing a
program of passive resistance against the government.
To be continued
We will continue under the same heading
(See ya!!!!!)
The Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" |
