A Muslim who almost died with the Martyrs

MARTYRS | MUSLIMS | RELIGION 

A lot is being said about the Uganda Martyrs, who were killed on the orders of King Mwanga of Buganda, between 1885 and 1887.

The Martyrs that we know comprise 22 Catholics and 23 Protestants. The majority of these 45 martyrs were killed together at the Protestant Shrine at Namugongo, on June 3, 1886. But could there have been some Muslims among the martyrs that Mwanga’s executioners killed at Namugongo? 

Hajji Hassan Walubi Bulwadda, a resident of Nabweru, in Wakiso district, claims that his father, the late Abdalla Aziz Nsubuga Bulwadda was among those that Mwanga had condemned to death at Munyonyo. 

He was tied up and led to Namugongo, where he survived the holocaust by a whisker.

According to Walubi, Nsubuga Bulwadda was taken to the court of King Muteesa I of Buganda by his father, Ssebayitambwa, who was an official at the court. As an ambitious young man, Bulwadda soon learnt Kiswahili from the Arabs, who frequently visited the King’s palace, from Mombasa. 

Subsequently, he became the King’s official interpreter for Kiswahili. Even when the Christian missionaries came, it was Bulwadda who interpreted their Kiswahili for the Kabaka.

In spite of his crucial role at the court, Bulwadda fell out with King Muteesa’s successor, Mwanga II, on account of his Islamic faith as his son Walubi explained: 

“When King Mwanga got annoyed, he went for all those who subscribed to the foreign religions, the Muslims inclusive. My father Abdalla Aziz Nsubuga Bulwadda professed the Muslim faith; so, he was also tied up and taken to Namugongo with the Christians.”

Walubi later explained how his father survived by a whisker. 

“He told me that they had already tied him in firewood. But when they were throwing him on the pyre, he coughed so loudly that he attracted the attention of Mukajanga, who ordered his executioners to find out what had gone wrong with him. 

My father told Mukajanga that he was not scared to die, but he was too thirsty and he never wanted to die with all that thirst. Mukajanga then ordered his men to give my father water. But with the apparent intention to humiliate him, they gave him mwenge bigere (plantain wine), in a calabash. Realising that what he had been given was not water, he declined to drink it.”

Walubi further narrated that after spitting out the beer, Mukajanga somehow became sympathetic to Bulwadda. 

So, he released him with two other would-be martyrs and took them back to the Kabaka’s Court. Mwanga got disturbed to see the three convicts back at his court, still alive. But Mukajanga quickly said to him: 

“Ssabasajja, Eggye lya Kabaka teriggwa mabega, nange nkulekeddewo bano basigale nga bakuweereza (Your Majesty, the King’s army does not get finished, so I have preserved these three, so that you do not run out of servants.”

Mwanga re-accepted Bulwadda back at the court and later made him the Chief of Mituba Ena Sub-County, in Butambala.

The granddaughter's version

Sarah Kizito Nyakaana, a granddaughter of Abdalla Aziz Bulwadda also has a version of his grandfather’s story, which was given to her by her dad, the late Zakariya Kizito Bulwadda. 

According to Sarah Kizito’s account, Abdalla Aziz Bulwadda walked on foot from Kampala to Mombasa, with the desire to discover the world. While there, he got the opportunity to master Swahili. 

But more importantly, he was able to observe the Arabs at the coast. He learnt that the Arabs, who were mainly traders of slaves, had the intention to penetrate the interior of East Africa. 

So when he returned, he sought audience with King Muteesa I. He informed the King about the motive of the Arab slave traders and asked him to take appropriate measures to protect his subjects. 

But the King knew he could not prevail over the gun-power of the Arabs. So, he sought advice from Bulwadda about the alternative strategy. Bulwadda advised the King to stock huge amounts of ivory. 

The Arabs also traded in ivory. So, if they found a lot of it, they would not bother to go into slave-trade. The Kabaka then stocked ivory at Kampala Road, the current location of City Square, where Bulwadda’s house stood. The Kabaka subsequently made Bulwadda his ivory business manager. 

Kizito further explained that Bulwadda was tied together with Saint Ponsiano Ngondwe, the Catholic martyr, after the judgment at Munyonyo. 

Ngondwe was killed stabbed to death with a spear, by Mukajanga, at Kyamula. 

Bulwadda was taken to Namugongo. But before being thrown on the pyre, Mukajanga recognized him and quickly ordered for his immediate release. 

He reportedly said: “You Bulwadda, how were you brought here? Now, who will run the Kabaka’s ivory business if you die?” He then released him.

Kizito said that the home of her grandfather Bulwadda was at the spot where the High Court stands. But he had to vacate when the colonial government started to construct the Court. 

He was nonetheless compensated with 3 square miles of land at Seeta, off Wampeewo, on Gayaaza Road, where he established his new home. It is there that he died and was also buried.

The authenticity of Bulwadda’s story 

Despite some slight differences in the two versions, Bulwadda’s story evidently contains significant truths. 

Fr. Richard Nyombi, a senior priest of the Missionary Society of White Fathers, who has also researched widely on the Uganda Martyrs, agrees that Bulwadda was actually arrested and tied up together with St Pontiano Ngondwe at Munyonyo.  

He also acknowledges that pioneer authors, who researched on the Uganda Martyrs, relied much on firsthand information given by Bulwadda. Nnyombi nonetheless says that Bulwadda was not arrested on account of his faith, but for other issues that he had with the Kabaka.

Researcher J.F. Faupel, in his book, The African Holocaust, also acknowledges Bulwadda’s arrest, together with St. Pontian Ngondwe, and how the two were tied together as they were led to Namugongo.  

Faupel also quotes Bulwadda recurrently as he tells the story of martyrs Pontian Ngondwe, St. Andrew Kaggwa and Saint Athanasius Bazekuketta.

Faupel gives a direct quotation from Bulwadda: “As my hand was fastened with Ngondwe’s in the same stocks, I could not leave him when he was killed. I was thus tied to the dead body. 

I was helpless, unable to escape and expecting death at any moment. I called upon Sebwira to release me, and Mukajanga replied in a terrible voice. “You call upon Sebwira! Do you think I cannot set you free? Then he ordered his assistant Sitankya to free me from the dead body.”