The 1900 Buganda Agreement

The Buganda agreement was the most comprehensive  and most sophiscated  document ever produced by foreigners  actin~ in concert  with Africans.
I  was signed on March 10   1900 between Sir Harry Johnson on behalf of the British
government  and Sir Apollo Kaggwa, Zakaria Kisingiri  and Stanislas Mugwanya  on behalf of Buganda  kingdom. These were the three regents to the infant Kabaka Daudi Chwa who couldn't  negotiate  agreements  because of his tender age.
It dealt with four main isues i.e. finance, power boundaries, system of government  and land settlement.
TERMS OF 1900 BUGANDA  AGREEMENT.
These were divided into four main categories namely.-
Power boundaries. System of government Finance provisions. Land clauses.
I.Power boundary between Baganda and the British.
 These fell in three articles; 5,6,8,13 and 20 of Buganda agreement and they included:
1.The kabaka gave up his claims of sovereignity on Bugaanda government  to the British. All
tributes ofBusoga, Toro and Ankole were handed over to ber majesty the queen of England and not to the kabaka as before.
2.Buganda was  declared a British protectorate equal  in status  to the rest of Ugandan provinces.
3.The clause 6 provided that the kabaka was to retain the status of a native ruler on condition of his loyalty (obedience) to her majesty the Queen of England. The Kabaka was to remain with his title of "His Highness" only if he respected the Queen of England through the resident governor.
4.The powers of Buganda courts in civil and criminal matters were surbodinated to the protectorate courts and they could only try  cases between Africans and not foreigners.
5.There would be a right of African subjects to appeal to the high court of the protectorate where punishments of over 5 years of imprisonment  or fines exceeding 100 pounds were involved.
6.The Kabaka was permitted to appoint the Katikkiro,  chief justice and treasurer to assist him in his duties and the idea of having two Katikkiros was abolished. These were also to act as regents during Kabaka' s absence in office. The appointment of these assistants were to be done subject to the approval of the protectorate  government.
7.         The  kabaka   lost   his  traditional    powers   of  arming   and  maintaining     the  army.   The protectorate   government  took over the control  of Buganda's   army,  trained  them  and brain washed  them towards  the interests of colonialism.
8.    The  "Lukiiko"   that  had  been  a  supreme   body  in  Buganda   was  now  subjected   to  the protectorate  government  i.e the Lukiiko  had both the legislative  and administrative  powers.
9.    The British  also reserved  the right to abrogate  the agreement  themselves  in case the Kabaka and his subjects  became insurbodinate  or unruly to the protectorate  government.
10.    On top of this,  the agreement  was written  in two versions  i.e. Luganda  and English  but in case of any conflict  it was English version  to be referred  to. All the above demonstrate  how Buganda  was made a surbodinate  of the British government.
II.      System of Government / New Administrative  Structures,
The  articles   of  this  nature   were  found   in  1,2,3,5,9,10   and  14 provisions   of  Buganda agreement.  They stipulated  the following  changes.-
1.      Buganda  became  a province  of the protectorate  of the same status  as other  provinces  of the protectorate   in the country.  This ended  her sovereignty  and superiority  to the neighbouring kingdoms.
2.    Buganda's   boundaries  were defined  which  included  the territory  referred  to as lost counties of,  Buyaga   and  Bugangaizi,    also  acquired   Kabula   and  Mawogola    from  Ankole.   This doubled  Buganda's   counties  from  10 to 20.
3.    Buganda   was  forced  to  renounce   (to  do  away)  with  any  territorial   claims   against  her neighbours  e.g. Bunyoro,  Toro, Busoga  and Ankole  in favour  of the Queen  of England. By this provision,  Buganda  lost her periodic  revenue  collection  (tributes)  from such societies.
4.        The kingdom  would be subdivided  into  20 "Sazas"  or counties.  There  would  be a Lukiiko to  discuss  all  matters  concerning   nati ve  administration    and  forward  to  the  Kabaka  the majority  resolutions  to be adopted  in administering   the kingdom.  These  resolutions  would not  be  put  into  effect  without   approval   of  his  majesty   the  representative    governor   in Buganda.
The lukiiko was consisting  of three ministers  and 20 Saza chiefs  or their deputies.  Together with 60 other members  appointed  by the Kabaka,  3 from each county  and 6 notable  persons also appointed  by the Kabaka.
5.    The ministers  and chiefs were  expected  to perform  in accordance  with the expectations  of the  protectorate   government.   In  case  of   a failure  on part  of  the  chief,  the  Kabaka  was supposed  to dismiss  such a chief  and appoint  another  one in his position  and report  to the- protectorate  government.
6.    The  lukiiko  was  to be  the highest  court  of  appeal  to Baganda.   The  powers  of Buganda courts was made surbodinate  to the protectorate   laws. The Kabaka' s office was to remain to act as a link between  Buganda  and the protectorate  government.
III.Finance Clauses.
These arrangements were found  in the provisions  of4,7,12,15,16    and  17. These dealt with taxation, salaries,  land and minerals wealth in the kingdom.
I.    The  right  to impose  taxes  was  reserved  to the protectorate   government.   The revenue   of Buganda  and  all  other  provinces   would  be  merged  up  into  revenue  of the  protectorate government:  Therefore  the Kabaka lost his income rights.
2.    The  Kabaka   was  to  have   a  guaranteed   annual   allowance    from  the  protectorate    local revenues of not less than  1500 pounds per year.
3.      There  was an imposed  hut and gun tax. The hut and gun  tax was  specifically  imposed  to
restrict  the ownership   of  guns.  Even  the Kabaka  lost  the  right  of arming  his army  after signing the Buganda  agreement.
4.    The protectorate   government   provided  grants  of salaries  for  some Baganda  officials  and some  members  of the  royal  family.  This  implies  that the  most  important  officials  of the government   stopped  to depend  on the Kabaka  for grants  and  wealth  hence  reduced  their obedience to the Kabaka.                                                                                                          
  IV.Land Clauses
This mainly  dealt with article  13 that talked  about land issues,  Sir Harry Johnstone  wanted to acquire  as much  land  as possible  for the protectorate   government.   This was because  he hoped to discover  mineral  wealth in Buganda.
Land in Buganda  was both  an economic  asset as well  as an instrument  of political  control
in the hands  of the Kabaka.  Before  the Buganda  agreement,   all the  land belonged  to the
Kabaka and it was the control  of land that increased  kabaka's  powers.
But under the  1900 agreement,  Buganda'  s land was divided  into 3-ownership  control:
i. The free hold land was allocated  to the peasants  by the British government.
ii.The Mailo  land  was  given  to the royal  family,  ministers   and  the  Baganda  chiefs.  It was called the Mailo land for it was measured  in miles. This was estimated  to be about 5000 Sq. Miles of land and were the fertile land in Buganda.
iii.The Crown land Was retained  to the protectorate  government.  It was also half of Buganda's land. It included  the forest  areas,  all the wasted  and  all the land.that  wasn't  taken by the chiefs. Crown  land represented  the most infertile land in Buganda  and later'turned  out to be useless.  It was in the  land clause  that the Baganda  chiefs  benefited   at the expense  of the protectorate  government  as they controlled  the most fertile land of  Bugaada.            
In the final analysis,  the Buganda  agreement  was intended to strengthen  the positions  of the t
protectorate   government   at the expense  of Buganda's   Sovereignty.   It greatly  undermined
the position  of the Buganda  king (Kabaka),  provided  a background  for establishment  of colonial  rule in Buganda  in particular  and Uganda in general i.e  it acted as a nucleus for the colonisation of the rest of Uganda.
Revision  questions.
1.      Discuss the significance of the 1900 Buganda agreement in the history of Uganda.
2.      "The Buganda agreement of  1900 was a basis of political, social and economic  changes in
Buganda up to 1914", Discuss.
3.    "A treaty between equal parties".  Do you agree with this description  of the 1900 Buganda agreement?
4.      Was the Buganda agreement a triumph of the Buganda Christian chiefs or the British? Give
reasons.
5.     To what extent was Buganda agreement of 1900 beneficial to the Baganda?
6.      Discuss the impact of Buganda agreement of 1900 to Uganda