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Jonathon L. Earle

@JonathonLEarle

18 Sep

On reading Abraham Lincoln in Africa. We need more works on how Lincoln's biography was deployed in African political thought throughout the 1900s. Perhaps an edited volume? Any interest? In 1959, the UG constitutional thinker EMK Mulira was exiled in Gulu for his role 1/11

in the year’s boycotts. During his time in exile, Mulira experienced numerous dreams and revelations. In one instance, God appeared to him “clearly and unmistakably in Luganda,” Kitawo ye mugagga asinga abagagga bonna” (literally, “your father [God] is the rich one 2/11

who surpasses all other rich people” i.e. “your father is the richest person”).’ Abraham Lincoln also appeared to Mulira in several visions. He talked at length about one vision before the Graduate Fellowship Conference in Limuru, Kenya, 1968: “I lived in political 3/11

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Jonathon L. Earle

@JonathonLEarle

17 Sep

On Uganda and WWII. No fewer than 77,000 Ugandans were enlisted during WWII. According to Timothy Parsons' study, approximately 465,572 eastern Africans were enlisted during the war. The Imperial War Museum houses a number of eastern African sources. 1/10

In the opening propaganda poster, we see strategists suggesting that Uganda had too many local car drivers and that they would soon be required to perform in the War to help the country. 2/10

This photograph was taken shortly after the war. It captures a conversation between A.J. Cox, then Resident of Buganda, and Goswa Kasaja of Bugwere. In the conversation, Kasaja recounted the air battles in which he participated. 3/10

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Jonathon L. Earle

@JonathonLEarle

15 Sep

I am currently finalizing an article on flags, ideologies of colours and political thought in twentieth-century Buganda. Here we see the flag of Kabaka Muteesa I, which Kabaka Mwanga hoisted to challenge the authority of numerous flags being raised by Frederick Lugard. 1/4

The flag itself was approximately twelve feet square. The colour of the background of the flag was red, four years prior to the creation of Zanzibar’s red flag (I believe). A large shield was sewn on the left side. To its right, two crossing spears formed an x-shaped pattern. 2/4

Both emblems were white in colour. By the mid-1890s, Catholics too had created a flag to represent their interests, a replication of the national flag of France. It was only after the religious wars of Mmengo 3/4

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Jonathon L. Earle

@JonathonLEarle

7 Sep

@Orthodox_ug

It is very sad to hear about the loss of Jonah Lwanga, the Archb. of @Orthodox_ug. May he RIP. The UOC has a long, rich history. Its founder, Father Reuben Spartas Mukasa (seen here, credit: UOC Archives), was one of the leading critics of the British empire in Africa. 1/6

Revd RS Mukasa first launched his movement in Bulemeezi. The earliest members of the movement were involved in Abazzukulu ba Kintu, an organisation that criticised Mailo Land & inspired Uganda's first trade unions. Spartas began his formal education 2/6

@UCUniversity

at the Anglican school in Nakanyonyi. He was 8. From Nakanyonyi, Mukasa studied at Bishop Tucker's College (@UCUniversity) & Kings's College, Budo. But during his studies, he concluded that Anglicanism was only a branch of the true Church, divided in CE 1054 and 1534. 3/6

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Jonathon L. Earle

@JonathonLEarle

12 Aug

We don’t talk enough about Daudi Ocheng. His political biography complicates much of what we think about Uganda’s late colonial moment. Some of the most articulate defenders of Buganda in the 1950s-60s were not Baganda. In this case, Ocheng was a son of Gulu. 1/11

Ocheng, unlike Okot p’Bitek, was one of the most articulate defenders of Buganda's political priorities. In my thinking, he was the most consequential Acholi activist in the late 1950s. Without his diplomatic work, KY & UPC would not have partnered to marginalize DP. 2/11

Ocheng was born in a Protestant home in Gulu. After attending Gulu Primary he joined Budo Junior School before matriculating at King’s College, Budo, where he and Kabaka Muteesa II began what would become a lifelong friendship. 3/11

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Jonathon L. Earle

@JonathonLEarle

11 Aug

Here we have a delegation of Baganda diplomats and activists in 1955 greeting His Majesty Kabaka Edward Muteesa II. For Hamu Mukasa, kneeling before the Kabaka could be traced to the earliest beginnings of the kingdom, a time when it was said of the Kabaka, "Segulu ligamba 1/4

enjuba tegana munyazi," or "Kyukyu olusubi olusaja nantasimbwa muge." Baganda diplomatic historians in the early 1900s reflected at length on how the politics of kneeling worked in the art of diplomacy—not only for the Kabaka, but his representatives as well. 2/4

B. Musoke Zimbe offered the following account in Buganda ne Kabaka: "When general Mandwambi came back from the war, Kabaka Mwanga sent Andereya Kiwanuka ex-Omulamuzi who died some time back at that time Omumyuka of Kigalagala to go and distribute the booty. 3/4

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