Domestic Tourism in Uganda

Domestic tourism is carried out all over Kampala and Uganda in general, due to the presence of different attractions and activities to get involved in, which include, Uganda museum, Namugongo martyrs’ shrine,Kasubi tombs, National Theater, Bhai temple among the others. Most of the tourists come to these places because of their history, what they poses, gain experience, get exposed, for research and explore Kampala’s nature.

Uganda museum is the oldest Museum in East Africa, it was officially established by the British protectorate government in 1908 with ethnographic material. The history of the Museum goes back to 1902 when the governor George Wilkason called for collection of objects of interest throughout the country to set up a museum. The museum started in a small Sikh temple at Lugards Fort in old Kampala Hill. Between 1920 and 1940s, archaeology and paleontological surveys and excavations were conducted by Church Hill, E.J. Wayland, Bishop J. Wilson, P.L.Shinnie, E.Lanning and several others who collected a significant number of artifacts to boost the museum. The museum at fort Lugard later became too small to hold the specimen and the museum was moved to Margret Trowel School of fine Art in Makerere University College in 1941. Later funds were raised for a permanent home and the museum was moved to its current home Kitante Hill in 1954. In 2008 The Uganda Museum turned 100 years.

At the back of the Uganda Museum building are traditional huts depicting traditional lifestyles of the early indigenous people in Uganda. For visitors who want to experience the traditional ways of the Ugandan people, an array of cultural material such as milk pot made from wood (ebyanzi), gourd vessels, basketry, beadwork, horn work, ceramics, cutlery, leatherworks, armoury, and musical instruments are displayed. These houses include the Bamba House on your left as you enter the Cultural Village followed by Tooro House, Bunyoro House, Hima House, Ankole House and Kigezi House all representing the western region. Some of the things to experience in the Tooro House, which belongs to the Batooro, are the beddings - especially the makeshift wooden bed, the backcloth blanket, and the royal drums. In the Ankole House that belongs to Banyankole there are cooking utensils like pots bowls made of clay and a mingling stone showing how the Banyankole used to prepare millet bread (Kalo) before the invention of the milling machines. In the Hima House that belongs to the Bahima there are milk gourds used for keeping milk and long horns representing the type of cattle that used to dominate the Himakraals. The Hima House there is also a lotion made from milk used to smear a would-be bride. From eastern Uganda there is Busoga House, Jopadhola House, Bugisu House, Teso House and the Karimojong House. The Bugisu House is dotted with circumcision 'weapons', including knives headgear among other regalia. In the Teso House there are several calabashes used for brewing and drinking Malwa, a popular local brew in eastern Uganda. There is also mingling stones and pots for preparing kalo which is one of their main foods. Other houses include Acholi House, Lango House, the Alur House and Madi House all from northern Uganda. Some of these houses contain arrows and bows which were mainly used as protection tools and for hunting among others. Then there is the Buganda House that represents people from the central region. Inside the house there is backcloth, drums, and baskets for Luwombo, hunting nets, wooden sandals (emikalabanda), and the Mweso game popular among the Baganda,.

About Namugongomatyrs shrine, the arrival of the Christian missionaries, Anglican and Catholic, set the stage for new developments, and marked a turning point in the religious life of the people of Buganda; as well as the political structure of the kingdom and the region at large. The history of Buganda from this point on took a different turn. A social revolution that was to transform all aspects of people's lives had set in, and the events that followed, unpredictable as they were, added to the discomfort the new changes had brought about. The untimely death of Mutesa I in 1884 just a few years after the arrival of the missionaries, left the kingdom in the hands of Mwanga II, a youth whose ruling style fell far short of the charisma and political astuteness his late father had demonstrated in dealing with the foreigners.

Mutesa had the astuteness and maturity of dealing with conflicting forces that struggled to influence his court. The Arabs (the Moslems), the Catholics (the French or Bafaransa as they were locally called) or the Protestants (the English or Bangereza) operated, of course not without constraint, with some minimal success during his reign. He let his subjects of all ranks to join any creed of their choice. The Arabs also having seen the Christian missionaries' efforts to convert the local people also diligently started to teach Islam. There was a competitive struggle among the preachers of the new creeds each attempting to assert more influence and recognition among the most influential officials in the inner circle of the king's court. The king himself never committed to any single creed. The Moslems denounced him for his refusal to be circumcised, and he could not be baptized in the Christian denominations because he did not want to give up polygamy. He died still a traditionalist.

The Christian religion was received with much excitement by the converts but it came with its own requirements. It denounced all the native religious behavior and practices as heathen and satanic. Therefore joining it meant a commitment to break away from the old life style, make and adopt new alliances, and adjust to new moral and religious standards, adherence and allegiance. The new flock of believers therefore, were seemingly regarded as 'rebels' who had transferred their loyalty to new religious systems thus abandoning the old tribal traditions.

Although Mwanga had shown some love for the missionaries as a young prince, his attitude changed when he became king. The once lively and enthusiastic prince in support of the missionaries turned into an intolerant and vicious persecutor of Christians and all foreigners. He felt, with good cause, that the powers and authority his predecessors had enjoyed were dwindling, and had disintegrated under the influence of the missionaries and their converts. The converts had diverted their loyalty to some other authority and their allegiance at all costs could no longer be counted on. For Mwanga, the ultimate humiliation was the insolence he received from the pages when they resisted his homosexual advances. According to old tradition the king was the center of power and authority, and he could dispense with any life as he felt. Although homosexuality is abhorred among the Baganda, it was unheard of for mere pages to reject the wishes of a king. (It is alleged that Mwanga learnt or acquired homosexual behavior from the Arabs). Given those conflicting values Mwanga was determined to rid his kingdom of the new teaching and its followers.

It was hardly a year after Mwanga's assumption of the throne that he ordered the execution of Yusufu (Joseph) Rugarama, Makko (Mark) Kakumba, and Nuwa (Noah) Serwanga the first three Christian martyrs, who were killed at Busega and Natete on January 31, 1885. In October of 1885 the Anglican Bishop James Hannington recently dispatched to head the Eastern Equatorial Africa, headquartered in Buganda, and was murdered in Busoga on his way to Buganda. Mwanga had ordered his death. Hannington's crime was to attempt to come to Buganda through Busoga, a shorter route than that employed by earlier visitors who took the route from south of Lake Victoria. Buganda's kings regarded Busoga as a backdoor to Buganda and thought that any one coming through the backdoor must have evil intentions towards the kingdom.

Joseph MukasaBalikuddembe, a senior advisor to the king and a Catholic convert, condemned Mwanga for ordering Hannington's death without giving him (Hannington) a chance to defend himself as was customary. Mwanga was annoyed that Mukasa would question his actions, and he had him arrested and killed. On Nov. 15 1885; Mukasa became the first Catholic martyr, when he was beheaded at Nakivubo. Between December of 1885 and May of 1886 many more converts were wantonly murdered. Mwanga precipitated a showdown in May by ordering the converts to choose between their new faith, and complete obedience to his orders. Those unwilling to renounce their new faith would be subject to death. Courageously, the neophytes chose their faith. The execution of twenty six Christians at Namugongo on June 3, 1886; was the climax of the campaign against the converts. The last person killed in this crusade, was Jean-Marie Muzeeyi, who was beheaded at Mengo on Jan 27, 1887. This is the list of the martyrs killed in Namugongo and some of their details.