Uganda: Did Mwanga Have to Sign the Martyrs' Death Warrant?

Kampala — ON Tuesday, Ugandans will celebrate Martyrs' Day. Between a rock and a hard place, this is where Kabaka Mwanga, the 33rd king of Buganda found himself when faced with the decision to order the execution of 45 Christian martyrs. Most of them were his most trusted pages, close friends and advisers. And here they were - disobeying his rules. Stephen Ssenkaaba writes that the young monarch might have been as much a victim of the circumstances as the martyrs themselves

AT the end of a long and frustrating hunting spree on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 25, 1886, so goes the story, Kabaka Mwanga went back home infuriated.

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