Uganda

“ In Uganda the problem is totally different. Uganda cannot be made a white man's country, and the prime need is to administer the land in the interest of the native races, and to help forward their development. Uganda has been the scene of an extraordinary development of Christianity. Nowhere else of recent times has missionary effort met with such success; the inhabitants stand far above most of the races in the Dark Continent in their capacity for progress towards civilization. ”

“ Entebbe, on the western shore of Victoria Nyanza, is the Imperial capital of Uganda, but Kampala, 23 miles north, is the native capital. The British government officials are located at the former place, while the native legislature convenes in the latter. Most of the land of Uganda is owned by natives, but no concessions are granted without the approval of British officials. If one wishes to buy land, he must apply for it through the native legislature. Uganda is a rich country, but little land is under cultivation. ”

“ Yet, after all this time, there is hardly a single Uganda artisan to be found—and those of poor quality—in Uganda itself; British East Africa has to look to the native of India to find the skilled artisans required for the service of the community. And it must be borne in mind that the Waganda are undoubtedly the most intelligent of all the native races of East Africa, so that the settler may fairly consider himself justified when he charges the missionaries with neglecting, practically entirely, one of the greatest aids to the civilization of the native that he could possibly use. ”

“ Over all the more thickly-inhabited countries the waste or unoccupied lands belong to Her Majesty the Queen, having been transferred to the Crown, in most cases by agreement with the chiefs, after payment of indemnities; in some other cases, as in Unyoro, as the result of conquest.... By Proclamation it has been forbidden to any foreigner to acquire land from the natives in any part of the Uganda Protectorate without the prior assent of the Uganda Administration.... A large area of the Kingdom of Uganda is guaranteed to the possession of its native occupants. ”

“ Uganda and British East Africa are far behind the Congo Free State. Not more than a third of Uganda is opened up to administrative control. I once spent ten months in Uganda, and visited every station in it, walking 2300 miles and returning down the Nile. The Belgians have got stations everywhere in the Congo practically, and most of the natives, except in one or two areas, are entirely under control. The Uganda native is a fat, lazy chap, who will do no work. There is no industry in Uganda. The Belgians pay the Congo natives for their labour. ”

“ The erection of a stable Government and the removal of all doubts about the future of Uganda have led to an entire abatement of strife among devoted men engaged in a noble work. Not only is there peace among the different Christian missions themselves, but the Government of Uganda, so far from watching missionary enterprise with sour disfavour, is thoroughly alive to the inestimable services which have been and are daily being rendered by the missions to the native population, and excellent relations prevail. ”

“ The character and habits of the Uganda people seem to forbid their enslavement. They are the only people in Central Africa that clothe themselves from head to foot. Besides their own ingenious utensils for housekeeping, the chase and war, thousands of European weapons and implements are found in their possession, and being ready workers in iron, they immediately imitate what they import. They are apt linguists, and their children have rapidly acquired the French and English languages from the missionaries. They have neither idols nor fetishes. ”

“ It possessed many lakes and rivers, and mountains and hot springs, and many other things which no other country could boast of.
"'Which do you think best, Stamlee—Karagwé or Uganda?'
"'Karagwé is grand; its mountains are high, and its valleys deep. The Kagera is a grand river, and the lakes are very pretty. There are more cattle in Karagwé than in Uganda, except Uddu and Koki; and game is abundant. But Uganda is beautiful and rich; its banana plantations are forests, and no man need to fear starvation, and Mtesa is good—and so is Father Rumanika,' I replied, smiling, to him. ”

“ Yet scarcely any money has ever been spent on Uganda. No European roads exist, no railways have been built, no 211 waterfalls are harnessed, no public works of any serious description have been undertaken. ”

“ Uganda is a black man's country; East Africa is fitted to be a white man's country, and is rapidly becoming one. As explained, this Protectorate rises gradually from the sea into a plateau varying from 5,000 to 10,000 feet in height, excluding peaks which attain an altitude of nearly 19,000 feet. This plateau is cleft down the middle by a depression known as the Great Rift Valley, which, though some thousand feet lower than the surrounding heights, shares their temperate climate. ”

“ Of these Uganda on the north-west shores of Victoria Nyanza, Cazembe and Muata Hianvo (or Yanvo) may be mentioned. The two last-named kingdoms occupied respectively the south-eastern and south-western parts of the Congo basin. In all this vast region the Negro and Negro-Bantu races predominated, for the most part untouched by Mahommedanism or Christian influences. They lacked political cohesion, and possessed neither the means nor the inclination to extend their influence beyond their own borders. The exploitation of Africa continued to be entirely the work of alien races. ”

“ About the beginning of the nineteenth century the empire was dismembered, the largest share falling to Uganda. The ensuing history of Uganda is of great interest. When King Mutesa came to the throne in 1862, he found Mohammedan influences in his land and was induced to admit English Protestants and French Catholics. Uganda thereupon became an extraordinary religious battlefield between these three beliefs. Mutesa's successor, Mwanga, caused an English bishop to be killed in 1885, believing (as has since proven quite true) that the religion he offered would be used as a cloak for conquest. ”

“ Just then I heard that Mkuenda, the queen's woman-keeper, was outside waiting for me, but dared not come in, because Congow's women were all out; so I asked leave to go home to breakfast, much to the surprise of Congow, who thought I was his guest for the whole day. It is considered very indecorous in Uganda to call upon two persons in one day, though even the king or the queen should be one of them. ”

“ He told me how, shortly after the late king of Uganda, Sunna, died, and before Mtesa had been selected by the officers of the country to be their king, an Arab caravan came across the Masai as far as Usoga, and begged for permission to enter Uganda; but as the country was disturbed by the elections, the officers of the state advised the Arabs to wait, or come again when the king was elected. ”

“ The State and citizens of Uganda shall at all times defend the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Uganda. (ii) The State and citizens of Uganda shall endeavour to build national strength in political, economic and social spheres to avoid undue dependence on other countries and institutions. (iii) The State shall endeavour to mobilise, organise and empower the Ugandan people to build independent and sustainable foundations for the development of Uganda. ”

“ Secondly, I think that Uganda and East Africa should be treated as a whole, and the dense and intelligent population of the former Protectorate encouraged to migrate into select areas of the latter, due precaution being taken to prevent the spread of the sleeping sickness. The proposal to send natives of Uganda to work in the mines of South Africa did not seem to me feasible, but I see no reason why they should not be encouraged to labour for a period as cultivators on the coast of East Africa, which is comparatively near their own country and not unlike it. ”

“ But if the immediate inflexion of British policy in Eastern Africa should be, without prejudice, but with precedence of other provinces, to accelerate the economic and social development of Uganda, what are the first steps to take? ”

“ IV. The Bantus inhabit the vast area from about Lake Victoria, comprising Eastern Equatorial and South Central Africa. Of the Equatorial tribes, the Ugandas are generally the finest types and the most progressive. Stanley tells us that he found them to be fine craftsmen. Even more than elsewhere, Uganda is a land of musicians, who have developed a great variety of native musical instruments. The Congo region also produces a fine race, physically superior to any of their kinsmen. In the mountains of the region “one sees magnificent specimens of human beings, both male and female. ”

“ I. As to the route viâ Uganda along my old road to the mouth of the Katonga. If, as in the old days, the king was friendly, I could take the Expedition to Dumo, on the Victoria Lake, and I would find means to{359} borrow his canoes to transport us to Kavirondo, whence, after preparing live stock and grain, we could start for Kikuyu, and thence to Mombasa. But Mwanga is not Mtesa; the murderer of Bishop Hannington can be no friend of ours. If we proceeded to Uganda, we should have two alternatives before us; to fight, or give up our arms. ”

“ Nothing, however, is more likely to stimulate traffic and the need of communication than the development of Uganda and the establishment in its neighbourhood of colonies of Europeans connected with South Africa by business interests. The fact that such colonists from South Africa are actually settling in considerable numbers in the neighbouring East Africa Protectorate will probably prove of great importance for the future of the country and determine the direction of its development. ”

“ For in Uganda proper the British Administration has, up to the present, wisely assisted the native population to grow economic products for sale for its own account, although it is constantly pressed to adopt the European plantation system existing in British East Africa proper. ”

“ In any case it is clearly most important that the power which occupies Egypt should also occupy Uganda, for a rival in the possession of the sources and upper course of the Nile might have opportunities of seriously injuring the territories which depend on its rise and fall. Uganda has another aspect which is important for Egypt and the Sudan. It is a Christian native state. Probably in no part of the world have the efforts of missionaries met with such rapid and thorough success. Elementary education and a taste for European civilization are generally diffused ”

“ The greater part of the surface of Uganda is hilly, fertile, and well watered, and the slopes of the hills are cultivated by natives who grow plantain trees, maize, sugar-cane, tobacco, and coffee. Here and there dense forests are to be found, and in such regions the Baganda hunt the elephant, buffalo, and hippopotamus. ”

“ The inhabitants of Unyoro form a very unpleasant contrast to those of Uganda, being dirty, mean-looking, and badly dressed. The country, too, is far inferior to Uganda, which might be made into a perpetually blooming garden; for, as the traveller leaves the equator and passes to the north, he finds that the rains gradually decrease, and that vegetation first becomes thin, then stunted, and lastly disappears altogether. The same structure of language prevails here as in Uganda, so that the people of Unyoro are called Wanyoro, and a single person is a M’yoro. ”

“ From the Kitangure river, fifteen stations conduct the traveller to Kibuga, the capital of Uganda, the residence of its powerful despot, Suna. The Chief of Uganda has but two wants, with which he troubles his visitors. One is a medicine against Death, the other a charm to avert thunderbolts, and immense wealth would reward the man who would give him either of these two things. The army of Uganda numbers three hundred thousand men; each brings an egg to muster, and thus something like a reckoning of the people is made. Each soldier carries one spear, two assegais, a long dagger, and a shield ”

“ Moreover, when the time came for my going on to Uganda, if I had not enough presents to give the king, he would fill up the complement from his own stores, and either go with me himself, or send Nnanaji to conduct me as far as the boundary of Uganda, in order that Rogero might not molest us on the way. In the evening, Masudi, with Sangoro and several other merchants, came up from Kufro to pay us a visit of respect. ”

“ The banana grows to perfection in Uganda; groves of it embower every village, and the Waganda in addition to being fat and prosperous have plenty of leisure for the arts of war and peace.
They are unfortunately inclined to war, though they make cloth, tan skins, work in metals, and build houses and canoes. Even literature is not unknown among them. Well might Speke have said of Ripon Falls at the outlet of the Nile, with “a wife and family, a yacht and a gun, a dog and a rod, one might here be supremely happy and never wish to visit the haunts of civilization again.” ”

“ Of all the places in the world where the Bahá’í Faith exists and is spreading, the Guardian is definitely most pleased with Africa, and most proud of Uganda. He feels that the spirit shown by white and negro pioneers alike in that continent, presents a challenge to the Bahá’ís everywhere in the world, and that old and staid communities may well learn from, and emulate the example of, the believers of Africa, many of them scarcely a year old in the Cause of God! ”