June 3rd is a public holiday in Uganda. The day commemorates the 45 martyrs, both Catholic
and Anglicans, who were killed on the orders of Kabaka Mwanga II, then King of Buganda,
between 1885 and 1887. The majority of the Catholic converts were burnt alive at Namugongo
on June 3rd 1886. The others were castrated, speared, ravaged by wild dogs, dismembered and
beheaded. And their mutilated bodies left on the roads as a warning and a lesson. Most of those
killed were young page boys who worked in the palace.
Reasons for executions
Scholars and witnesses have advanced various reasons for Kabaka's actions.
The king was particularly concerned about the growing impact of Christianity and the emergence
of a new educated class of officials distinct from the previous territorial leaders.
The erudite Christians, who claimed to know more about religion than King Mwanga, detested
him. As a result, the new flock of believers (known as abasomi or readers) were considered
rebels who had shifted their loyalties to new religious systems while rejecting ancient tribal
traditions.
Second, it's thought that Mwanga ordered the execution of all young men who disobeyed him,
partly to appease the older chiefs' demands.
The Kabaka was instructed accordingly by the elders, who were jealous that these up and coming
young men would soon depose them from power.
A missionary, Pere Lourdel, dared to address the issue with the Katikkiro (chiefs),
recommending that the missionaries leave if necessary and the converts spared. But the response
was, "It is our children, not yours, that we are killing." You, on the other hand, are our visitors;
we will not expel you.
Finally, Kabaka Mwanga II, who had the power of life and death over his subjects by custom,
was enraged by some of the boys' refusal to engage in physical intimacy with him; the monarch
was gay.
As a result, every June 3rd, Christian believers from around Uganda and the East African region
flock to the Namugongo shrine to commemorate the victims' lives. For instance, in June 2015, an
estimated two million people attended the event. However, this year's event will be lowkey,
thanks to the Covid 19 pandemic. These celebrations will be limited to 200 people, according to
officials. In 2020, authorities cancelled the event.
"May we call on God to intervene for solutions that can change the COVID-19 story as we
remember and celebrate the martyrs for their display of Courage, Boldness, and Unshaken
Determination to stand up for their faith even in the face of Persecution and Death," President
Yoweri Museveni said on Twitter.