Uganda has produced some of the world's best runners, including @joshuacheptege1 @Stephen42k @NakaayiH, Judith Ayaa, Akii Bua, Docus Inzikuru, & many others. Marathons have a long history in Uganda. The first was organized on 1 November 1908 alongside an industrial exhibition 1/5
in KLP. The occasion attracted UG's heads of state & leading chiefs.48 runners from throughout the country competed. The 26-mile course was along Old Kampala-Entebbe Rd. Here we see some of the runners at the starting line. They may have been the designated Catholic runner 2/5
The winner was Kapere (n. 12); he represented Buganda. At the time, he was 23 years of age and finished in three hours and 3 minutes—only seven minutes behind the world record holder. Kapere was purported to have trained very little. 3/5
As one report stated: “None of the runners had had any special training, and the winners reached the post in excellent condition.” Number 11 crossed the finish line only 15 seconds behind Kapere. The 3rd-place runner (also seen here) lagged Kapere by only three minutes. 4/5
As Kapere crossed the line, he was cheered on by Apolo Kaggwa, whom we see to our right, Kapere’s left. 5/5

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More from @JonathonLEarle

22 Apr
On #EarthDayEveryDay #EarthDay21 a short thread on an often-overlooked chapter of the history of elephants in Uganda. There was a long history of interacting and hunting elephants in precolonial Uganda. 1/11 Image
Colonial empires, of course, were predicated upon the assumption that the natural world could be tamed and regulated. Elephants were not exempt. Sir Hesketh Bell was Uganda’s commissioner/governor between 1907 and 1910. 2/11
He was largely remembered in vernacular histories for his association with Sleeping Sickness and the introduction of cotton and motor cars. Bell believed that by demonstrating superior knowledge over the natural world, 3/11
Read 12 tweets
17 Mar
What is Federalism? And why does it matter? This week, @dfkm1970 presented clear & compelling reflections on Federalism in Uganda. Federalism has a long & rich history. Whether one advocates for federalism, it surely warrants serious historical & contemporary consideration. 1/15
In the 1950s, EMK Mulira wrote extensively on the topic of federalism. He was responsible for helping create the federalist arrangements in Uganda’s 1962 Constitution. In my mind, his most popular case for federalism was expressed in the novel: 2/15
Aligaweesa: Omuvubuka was Uganda Empya (A Youth of the New Uganda). Aligaweesa tells the story of a stranger’s political promotion in Buganda’s ethnic polity. Mulira showed how the terms ‘nationalist’ or ‘citizen’ were identical to the word used in Luganda for ‘stranger’; 3/15
Read 17 tweets
17 Mar
On nature, prophets, the deep past, & national history writing. It is regretful that Matia Kigaanira Ssewannyana Kibuuka has been ignored in much of Uganda’s national history writing. He is one of the most consequential activists of the 1950s, but he is rarely discussed. 1/17
Matia Kigaanira (MK) was born in the mid-1930s. He became a driver for the Trans-Congo/Uganda Company. At the age of 17, while in a restaurant in Fort Portal, the lubaale Kibuuka rested on Kigaanira’s head. Overcome with Kibuuka’s power, 2/17
MK smashed his plate onto the floor & announced his imminent return to Mbaale, where Kibuuka's principal shrine was located. MK’s transformation into the prophet Kibuuka was spectacular. First, MK was a Museenene. But Kibuuka’s shrine in Mbaale was kept by Ndiga elders. 3/17
Read 17 tweets
15 Mar
On Gender, Political Power, & Mubende Hill. On Mubende Hill resides one of the oldest sites of public healing in Uganda’s deep past. And its power continues to emanate. 1/19 Image
Historians have shown how the oldest histories in the area suggested that the female healer, Kamawenge, travelled from Tooro to settle on Kisozi, the name of the location prior to Mubende. 2/19
She produced two sons who sought to govern the site. Their political power was deeply connected w/ the emergence of the Babiito rulers of Bunyoro-Kitara. Indeed, Ndaula/Ndahura Kyarubumbi, one of the last Cwezi spirit rulers, is said to have lived on the hill. 3/19
Read 19 tweets
22 Feb
The Tooro monarchy, whose palace we see here, emerged during the 1820s. Olimi I, a Nyoro prince, set about establishing a separate kingdom. Colonial administrators supported the move, which they believed would undermine Bunyoro’s weakening economy & political sovereignty. 1/8
In this picture, we see Rukirabasaija Daudi Kasagama Kyebambe III in 1897. He secured separate status from Bunyoro. He then extended Tooro’s authority throughout the Rwenzori region. 2/8
At the ideological heart of the movement of creating Tooro were Protestant loyalties w/ the metropole, in addition to claims over the control of the Amabere ga Nyina Mwiru, whose breast milk had nourished the emergence of eastern Africa’s largest & most consequential empire. 3/8
Read 8 tweets
21 Feb
On 19th-century Kkooki: Independent Kingdom or Buganda County? By the mid-1800s, Kkooki was arguably Uganda’s most cosmopolitan kingdom. By the late 1700s, Kkooki’s kibiito kings severed their royal ties with Bunyoro, (Photo: Kamuswaga, 1897) 1/17 Image
the land of their origin. According to the Kkooki intellectual and historian, E.M.K. Mulira, Kkooki’s third king, Mujwiga, sent emissaries to Kabaka Jjunju to secure their dissociation from Bunyoro. 2/17
‘Kamswaga King of Koki with some of his attendants.' Uganda Photographs, c. 1897 – 1903 EEPA-1998-002-0032 Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives National Museum of African Art Smithsonian Institution 3/17 ImageImage
Read 17 tweets

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