Missionaries in Buganda and eastafrica

Missionary work in Uganda; had greater effects in Buganda than elsewhere. Following the history of Stanley with Muteesa I in 1875, missionaries were invited to Buganda through a letter by Stanley on Kabaka's behalf. The Kabaka called them because:
1) For long time Muteesa expected danger of Egyptian attack in search for source of River Nile. Muteesa therefore thought missionaries would be of great help against the expected Egyptian advance.
2) He wanted military assistance against constant Bunyoro attacks. These were his traditional enemies and thus his cooperation with missionaries would provide a solution.
3) He was attracted by the technology of Europeans especially the making of a gun as
demonstrated by whites in his palace.
Following Stanley's letter, the first missionary group arrived in Buganda in 1877. These were Church missionary society and this comprised of Sbergold Smith and Rev. R.C.T Wilson and Alexander Mackay. Two years later In 1879, they were followed by the White Fathers missionanes from France. There was also another group called Verona fathers who operated in the North and Central of Uganda. There were also Mill Hill Fathers who worked m Northern Uganda.
Missionanes in Buganda were so successful in establishing schools, churches, hospitals, road!'; and introduction of cash crops By 19 t 0 missionary converts in Buganda were already being used in the spread of Chnstianity in Southern Sudan, Eastern Uganda and Congo Prominent among them was Canon Apollo Kivebulaya who worked first in Toro and pioneered missionary work in Eastern Congo
In Kenya, missionaries had to wait for the estabhshment of colonial rule (protection) hence their activities were limited to the coast until afte. the British occupation of Kenya in 1895. A number of missionaries began to penetrate into the interior of Kenya following
The completion of Uganda railway and many mission stations were able to operate in places like Kisumu in 1903. .
Revision questions.
Assess the impact of Christian missionary activities in East Africa.
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Missionary Work in East Africa.


The early missionary activity in East Africa began in 1840 with coming of Krapf, Ludwig aad Erhardt. To a large extent these men were explorers and attempted to carry out cnssronary work to a small extent and met a number of difficulties like opposition from well established Islam culture at the coast, language barrier, lack of supplies and suffered from manpower problem to carry out missionary work.
Nevertheless, they had notable achievements in history of East Africa like converting some few East Africans into Christianity, Krapf opened up a station at Rabai, wrote a Swahili dictionary and Swahili grammar books that were vital in the later missionary work, he is also believed to be first White man to see Mt. Kenya in 1849.
Rebman was the first white man to see Mt. Kilimanjaro and mentioned the existance of take Victoria idea (Inland Sea in E. Africa), which aroused the interest of Europeans who ranted to search for the source of River Nile. Jacon Erhardt made the first attempt to draw the map of East Africa that later guided many Europeans into the interiors of this region,
.ror example, the expeditions of John Speke, Richard Burton, Dr. Livingstone and Stanley
depended on guidance of this map. The real missionary work began after 1870.
Church Missionary Society (C.M.S.):
By 1877, Church Missionary Society had reached Buganda. It had left established stations ar Rabai, Mpwapwa and Usambara in Tanganyika.The Church Missionary Society also started settlement at Frere Town at the coast of Kenya for the slaves who gained their freedom. Otherwise in Buganda, C.M.S met religious competition among the White Fathers (Catholics), Muslims and Traditionalists until 1893 when it was quelled by Lord Lugard,
White Fathers:
After 1860, East Africa saw a number of missionary groups coming in, for example, the White Fathers had a missionary station at '[abora, Karema, Mukumbi within Tanganyika, another at Zanzibar, built a station atRubaga in Uganda and three other stations in Eastern Congo at Uvira, Kibanga and Mpala, adjacent to the shores of Lake Tanganyika. All expected common missionary activities were carried out around these stations.
London Missionary Society:
This had stations at Urambo, Ujiji in central Tanganyika and Mtowa across Lake Tanganyika in Eastern Congo. The activities of London Missionary society greatly depended on the transport system established by African Lakes Company formed by James Stevenson as it had other stations in Central Africa.
The Holy Ghost Fathers:
The success of this missionary group depended on the efforts of Father Homer. They first settled at Zanzibar in early 1860's and later built their missionary station inland Tanganyika at Bagamoyo. In both places they established hospitals and schools.
77 Universities Mission To Central Africa (UMCA):
This came into existance in 1856 as a result of lectures delivered by Dr. Livingstone at Cambridge and Oxford Universities about the state of Africa and his exploration report. The success of this missionary group depended on the effort of Bishop Mackenzie who opened up the first missionary station at Shire River in Malawi.
In East Africa UMCA work was championed by Bishop Tozer who opened up a station at Zanzibar in 1864. To show the living and sign of Christianity to the suffering slaves, he built a church on the spot, which had been a slave market in Zanzibar. UMCA had many other stations inland of South Tanganyika such as Masasi and Newala, and at Magila near Rabai.
1n their first church at Zanzibar Africans who had been converted were taught to read and write. They in tum became missionaries among the people of the interior. Dr. Steer of this society took a greater interest in Swahili and translated many books from English to Swahili for the benefit of their coverts.
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