My Africa Today

In school, in history classes, students are taught about the African Slave Trade: how the black people were taken from the Continent of Africa to be slaves; how the black people were captured and raped and robbed of their culture; how the black people were forced to accept the religion of their captors; and how the black people had to, and still do, live according to the customs of their slave masters.

But did slavery all start on the continent of Africa? Were Hebrew/Israelites part of this slave trade? Were the Hebrew/Israelites even in Africa? And were the Hebrew/Israelites in Africa during the time of the African Slave Trade? .

George E. Lichtblau, author of "Jewish Roots in Africa," said "Claims of a historic presence of Jewish communities in certain regions of Africa, notably West and Southern Africa, seem esoteric when first mentioned. This presence goes back not just centuries, but even to biblical times." How many children know this? Mr. Lichtblau also said, " . . . the subsequent scattering of a Jewish presence and influence reaching deep into the African continent is less widely acknowledged." Why?.

If everything is left up to the school systems, black people in America will continue to live in darkness, especially, concerning the slave trade and its connection with the Hebrew/Israelites. There is a connection!.

First, it should be understood that the Hebrew/Israelites are black people. If that's not clear, please read "The Hebrew People of the Bible, What Color are they?" This will clearly explain what our captors do not want you to know. .

All through the biblical history of the Hebrew/Israelites, you will read how they disobeyed God, their Father, the God of Israel. In that the children of Israel are His only son (Exodus 4:22), they had to be disciplined by their Father, the Creator ofheaven and Earth, for their wicked deeds..

How did God discipline his children being a spiritual and not a physical being?.

The spanking that the Children of Israel received was through being defeated on the battlefield and by being taken into captivity by the nation or nations that their father, the Creator, raised to power. For example: Judges 2:11&14 says, "The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord . . . and the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that plundered them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies." Judges 3:7&8 says, "The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord . . . Therefore the anger of the Lord burned against Israel and he sold them into the hand of Kushan-rish'atayim, king of Aram: and the children of Israel served Kushan-rish'atayim eight years." And, Judges 3:12-14 says, "The children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel . . . And he gathered to him the children of Ammon and Amaleq, and went and smote Israel . . . So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab, for eighteen years." So as you can see, the discipline came through the other nations by the God of Israel..

As the Children of Israel continued to do evil, and the God of Israel continued to bring other nations against them, knowing that they were going to be persecuted, and forced to serve another nation, they would run into other countries trying and thinking they were fleeing from their captors, that the Lord their God had raised and strengthened against them..

Although, the children of Israel was constantly wicked, they were already warned by the God of Israel that if they disobeyed Him that they would be cursed. As the Christians have the book of Revelations for their last book, the Hebrews have the book of Deuteronomy for their last book of revelations. And their curse is thoroughly outlined in Deuteronomy 28th Chapter. I am not going to quote the 28th chapter because it is very lengthy. But, please read it!.

There were several times when the Israelites, out of defeat, ran for shelter, and the Bible and other history books of the Jews hold the specific details of this matter. .

Second Kings 18:9-13 says, "And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hosea son of Elah King of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it. And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, (that is, the ninth year of Hosea king of Israel) Samaria was taken. And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes: because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them. Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them."

Knowing that king Shalmaneser did carry away Israel, and that king Sennacherib did take Judah into captivity, did any Hebrew/Israelites try to escape their wrath? Did any Hebrew/Israelites run into other countries? Is it all possible for them to have also run into Africa? I say Yes!

Solomon Grayzel, a white Jewish historian, wrote in his book, "A History of the Jews," in the ninth century CE (AD), a man appeared in north Africa among the Hebrews there, his name was Eldad from the tribe of Dan, he was a Danite. He said the members of his tribe had escaped Israel after Sennacherib had conquered Israel, and other Hebrews from other tribes also live in the land from where he came from.

Menasseh ben Israel, the author of "The Hope of Israel," said in his book there were Hebrew/Israelites that had been scattered into the Americas since the time of Sennacherib.

Mr Lichtblau, the writer of "Jewish Roots in Africa," speaking of the Jews said, "Pressed under sweeping regional conflicts, Jews settled as traders and warriors in Yemen, the Horn of Africa, Egypt, the Kingdom of Kush and Nubia, North African Punic settlements (Carthage and Velubilis), and areas now covered by Mauritania. More emigrants followed these early Jewish settlers to Northern Africa following the Assyrian conquest of the Israelites in the 8th century B.C.E...."

And, Rabbi Dahton Nasi, the author of the "Basic Jewish Studies Handbook," has placed the Hebrew/Israelites all over the African continent.

Shalmaneser king of Assyria and Sennacherib king of Assyria were not the only kings to have come up against Israel. Another very important time in the history of the Hebrews, and I say important because the Temple was destroyed for the first time, is when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon came and took Israel and destroyed the temple.

Here too, we tried to escape persecution and ran into the continent of Africa. Mr. Lichtblau statement above goes one step further, when mentioning the emigration of the Hebrews to Africa during the conquest of king Nebuchadnezzar. It says, " . . . and again 200 years later, when Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians, leading to the destruction of the First temple."

So, again two hundred years later the Children of Israel ran into Africa trying to flee persecution.

The people, not wanting to serve king Nebuchadnezzar, went into Egypt, even after they were instructed by the God of Israel, their Father, not to. Jeremiah, the prophet, in chapter 42, 43, and 44 tells the people that God said to stay in Babylon because he would be with them. But instead, they went to Egypt and when Jeremiah caught up with them in there, he said, due to them not listening to the God of Israel, he was going to push king Nebuchadnezzar into Egypt and take it and them.

I don't know what my reaction would have been if I had been informed of this by the Prophet. But as Rabbi Nasi stated in his handbook above (regarding this situation, and something I do agree with), "This warning would cause many Israelites to migrate deeper into Ethiopia and the Sahara desert."

After serving the Babylonians for 70 years, the Hebrews returned to Israel to rebuild the kingdom. Thinking that they would have known how to act, they had to be disciplined again because they wouldn't listen to the word of God.

In the year 334 B.C.E., Alexander the Great, came down from Macedonia and took Babylon, Egypt, Israel, and other areas that were occupied by the Persians. After Alexanders death, his kingdom was divide and the Hebrew/Israelites caught trouble again.

Around 176 B.C.E., king Antiochus ruled the Greek Kingdom and came up against Israel. Approximately two years later, the king attacked Jerusalem and destroyed the city, burned it down, and took the women and children captive. He also wrote a decree to all of his kingdom that the people should give up their particular practices and be as the Greeks, to be as one people.

The king told the Hebrews to "put a stop to whole burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings at the sanctuary, and to break the Sabbaths and profane the feasts and to build altars and sacred precincts and idol temples and sacrifice hogs and unclean cattle; and to leave their sons uncircumcised and defile themselves with every unclean and profane practice." The king made it known to the Hebrews, if they did not obey the command, they would be put to death. After the Greeks came, the Romans and around 70CE destroyed Jerusalem again. The Romans, too, refused to let the Jews circumcise their boys, observe the Sabbath, and study the laws of the God of Israel. Here, too, the Roman government said if we were to do the things that we are commanded to do by the God of Israel, that the Hebrews would be put to death.

The restrictions on the Hebrews forced them to emigrate in even greater numbers than before. Rome's vengeance forced the Hebrews that lived in Cyrenaica, which was approximately a hundred thousand and a million in Egypt to flee into the south of Africa and the west of Africa. Solomon Grayzel said, "such is the explanation how the Sahara desert first acquired Jewish tribes . . . "

But it wasn't always another kingdom that forced the Hebrews to flee their homeland.

The first three centuries of the Christian Era weren't easy for the Hebrews. There was a lot of confusion between the Hebrews and the Christians due to instigation by the Roman government saying the Hebrews killed Jesus. And, that false accusation has followed the Hebrews even until this day. But, at that time it did force the Hebrews to flee from persecution, while at the same time we also fled from the Christians due to forced conversion. It was a do or die situation. You either accepted Christianity or you died.

Next was the rise of Islam some several hundred years later, 6th or 7th century. Islam was gaining some dominance but not enough to convert the Hebrews. Mohammed sought the Hebrews, but the Hebrews didn't want to have anything to do with Islam. Eventually, a choice was given to the Hebrews either Islam or die by the sword. The threat of the sword was definitely carried out by the command of Mohammed, killing the Hebrew males and selling the Hebrew women. After the death of Mohammed, his successor (Abu Behr), with a tighter grip than Mohammed, continued with the caravan.

Africa wasn't the only country where the Hebrews dwelled because of them fleeing their captore and wanting to live a life of freedom. Spain and Portugal, to name a few, were two countries where the Hebrews tried to leave.

Life for the Hebrews in Spain was fair until January 2, 1492. This is the year that king Ferdinand and queen Isabella signed an order to deport the Hebrews out of Spain. Christianity had taken a strong hold in Spain and Ferdinand and Isabella approved the expulsion because the Jews were secretly maintaining their faith as Moses had instructed them and not embracing the Christian religion.

Ferdinand and Isabella gave the Jews until August 1, 1492 to get out of Spain or suffer severe slavery for sure. When August 1, 1492 arrived, a great number of Jews had departed Spain, returning to the northern and western parts of Africa, fleeing to the Caribbean islands, and fleeing into Portugal. "But the last group of Jews did not leave until August 2, 1492," said Rudolph Windsor, author of "From Babylon to Timbuktu."

This date should sound familiar to the world because this is the date Christopher Columbus set sail for the New World. And their were Jews on board his carriers. The Jews that stayed behind in Spain were either forced to convert to Christianity, be a slave, or die by the sword. The Jews that fled into Portugal were allowed to stay for thirteen years but no longer, to the year of 1505. To this date, there are a number of dark-skinned Hebrews in the Caribbean Islands, practicing and living the laws of Moses.

When 1505 arrived, the Hebrews that had stayed behind in Portugal were forced into being slavery by the order of the governor of Portugal. Also, the governor gave permission to import the slaves, those negroes, those Hebrews into the Caribbean islands and the West Indies.

But Spain and Portugal weren't the only culprits in this matter. The African people also played a part in the captivity of African slaves.

Although the slave trade began in 1441, at the hands of the Portuguese, it wasn't until 1619, when the first slaves were reported in English America, said Richard L. Green. He went further to say, "The participation of countries in the African slave trade became so profitable that slaves were viewed as black gold' and beasts of burden."

Black gold and beasts of burden is how Affonso I, king of the Congo, must have viewed the Hebrews of Africa because he gained a great deal of wealth from the slave trade. It is noted that Mvemba Nzinga, who was baptized Affonso I, ruled as the Mani Congo (king of the Congo) from 1506 to 1543. "Affonso I attempted to control the slave traffic," and by 1530, at least 5,000 slaves were exported annually from the Congo, said Mr. Green. Richard L. Green is the publisher and editor of "A Salute to Historic African Kings and Queens."

Of course, Affonso I, the king of the Congo, in the continent of Africa, wasn't the only king to get involved in the slave trade. There were other kings in Africa that did it out of profit, and their were some kings that were pitted against each other by the Europeans. But either way it goes, the Hebrews went into slavery by the hands of the kings of Africa and by the hands of the Europeans.

This document makes the connection between the Hebrew/Israelites and the African Slave Trade and explains how and why the Hebrews emigrated or rather fled to the continent of Africa. At the same time, it explains how the Hebrews got caught up in the slave trade. Many of the black people in America want to associate themselves with the African continent, when in fact it actually has nothing to do with the black people of America.

The history of the black people doesn't stop at Africa. There is more to black people than that. Take the time to study black history, and don't stop at Africa. Why, because it will be you who will make a difference in this world..

2. Elijah McCoy* (1844-1929)
Responsible for a remarkable 57 patents, American inventor Elijah McCoy is best known for inventing ingenious devices to lubricate heavy machinery automatically. McCoy's devices were so reliable that people often asked if machinery contained "the real McCoy," likely giving rise to this enduring expression.

3. Lewis Howard Latimer* (1848-1928)
Although he received seven patents for his inventions, mechanical draftsman and inventor Lewis Howard Latimer is best remembered for his key contributions to the incandescent light bulb. In 1881 Latimer patented an electric lamp with an inexpensive carbon filament and a threaded wooden socket. He later joined Thomas Alva Edison's team of inventors and wrote the first known book on electric lighting.

10. Charles Richard Drew, M.D. (1904-1950)
American surgeon Charles Richard Drew conducted pioneering work in blood storage and transfusion techniques. Drew showed that blood plasma lasts longer than whole blood, a medical breakthrough that enabled the creation of the modern blood bank. In 1939, Dr. Drew used his new understanding of blood storage and transfusion to help establish the first blood banks to serve the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II. He went on to become the first director of the American Red Cross Blood Bank.

By Chris Ferree

The lands that make up what is now Uganda and Kenya were one of the last places on the African continent to be explored by white men. Apart from a few lusty adventurers ( such as Speke, Grant, and Stanley) and the occasional missionary , the map of what was to be British East Africa was blank until nearly the turn of the century. In fact, the knowledge of the area was so lacking that Stanley’s Emin Pasha Relief Expedition of 1887 went to Lake Albert by way of the Congo. Even into the 1890’s and expedition could expect to make some sort of geological, zoological or ethnological discovery.

In the late 1870’s missionaries coming from the south or up the Nile arrived on the west coast of Lake Victoria to preach the gospel. There were also Arab traders from Mombasa and Zanzibar as well as Mahdist from the Sudan shouting the praises of Islam. Of the Christian missions, French Roman Catholics and British Protestants of the Church Mission Society were responsible for the conversions to Christianity in Uganda. While the Muslims had no formal missions ( at least none mentioned in the European history books) converts to the word of the Prophet kept pace with both of the Christian sects combined. The rivalry between the Wa-Fransa (Catholics) and the Wa-Ingleza (Protestants) was only surpassed by their mutual hatred of the Islamic faction. This was a recipe for war and violence that would last for years.

At the beginning of this period, Wagandan beliefs held that their Kabaka (King) was a deity. Both Christianity and the Muslim religions disputed the god-like stature of the Ruler resulting in their persecution. Unfortunately for the Kabakas (first Mtesa then Mwanga), he could not stem the tide of conversions and the ranks of Muslim, Catholic, and Protestant continued to swell. For Mtesa, continued persecution was the answer. When Mwanga ascended to the throne the situation was becoming serious. In the year 1888, he planned to rid himself of all of the converts, Christian and Muslim. Mwanga was going to lure them onto one of Victoria’s islands and leave them to perish. However, news of the plot was leaked and Mwanga was just able to escape .

Kiwewa, Mwanga’s brother, was names Kabaka by the Christians who assumed the majority of offices in court. The Muslims, outraged by the division of power, made a surprise attack at a council meeting, killing many Christian chiefs and capturing Kiwewa. The Mohammedan chief tried to force the Kabaka to conform to Islam, but Kiwewa stood firm. In fact he was able to dispatch two Muslim chiefs before he made good his escape. At this point the near leaderless Christian population fled Uganda to Akoli on the south end of the lake. The White missionaries were left in the Muslims hands. They were soon set adrift onto the lake and their goods were looted.

By the middle of 1889 the “Arabs” as Lugard called them, were in control of the country. Karema, another of Mwanga’s brothers, was made the Islamic king of Uganda. The non-converted part of the population was still mistreated, and the Christians were looking for a leader. Mwanga, after his flight, was held by the Muslims of Magu district. He was able to escape and eventually ended up at the French mission station of Bukumbi. The Christians offered to reinstate Mwanga, provided some changes were made in his policies. With the help of Stokes, a former mission agent turned trader/gun runner, Mwanga led the Christians back to Uganda.

Unfortunately, The Arabs were ready and the christian army was pushed back to Ankoli. They did, however, have control of the lake. The king occupied the Sesee Islands near the capital, Mengo,but the main army was in the south. It was at this time (June 1889) that word came of an Imperial British East Africa Company safari camped at Kavirondo on the eastern shore of Lake Victoria. Mwanga sent letters to Jackson, the leader of the expedition, asking for help. Jackson replied that he could only enter Uganda if Mwanga would sign a treaty giving Britain exclusive rights to trade.

By September of 1889, Mwanga’s Christian coalition was falling apart. He called for the missionaries to join him on the islands to help solidify the his forces. With the help of the missionaries, both Protestant and Catholic, Mwanga regained control of his forces and drove the Muslims from the capital. With this success, Mwanga rejected Jackson’s offer. His success was short lived and it was not long before Mwanga was back on the islands and the Arabs were back in Mengo. More letters were sent to Jackson, stating that he, Mwanga “was ready to do business”. Father Pere Lourdel, the chief Catholic missionary, also sent a request to Jackson for aid. Jackson was, however, away exploring and did not get the letters until November.

Dr. Karl Peters, leader of the German Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, read Jackson’s letters and immediately pushed on for Uganda. When he reached the Nile, in Usoga Province, Peters was told that the Pasha had been rescued by Stanley. The good doctor then decided to push on to Mengo to render aid to the embattled Mwanga. Once Jackson returned to Kavirondo and found his opened mail, he too set off for Mengo.

As the fortunes of war turned again in the Christians favor, in February 1890, Mwanga was back in his capital. Dr. Peters arrived later in the month and signed a treaty with Mwanga leaving all Uganda open to any European. Dr. Peters did no enjoy his triumph for long, however. Because of his behavior he fell in to ill-favor and soon moved south to German territory.

Jackson arrived at Mengo in April 1890. His arrival was somewhat of a disappointment to Mwanga, as he had too few rifles and no flashy uniforms like Peters’ men. He also came to lager-heads with the Catholic Fathers because his treaty would put the I.B.E.A. in control. With the Catholics advising the king, negotiations went nowhere.

Because of the political stalemate, Jackson decided to leave Uganda. He would leave behind his colleague Mr. Gedge with 35 men and 180 rifles. Gedge also had instructions to buy up any guns that entered the country ( Mr. Stokes was away at this time obtaining them for the Waganda ). When Jackson told the court of his intention of leaving, the Wa-Ingleza decided to go with him. This move would leave the Catholics greatly outnumbered, so they decided to leave also. AS this plan would not work, Jackson took a representative from each party to argue the case in front of a higher authority.

Two events occurred at this time that would change the fortunes of the British Company. First, a treaty was signed between Britain and Germany that recognized the border between their spheres of Influence west of the lake as 1 degree south latitude. This placed Uganda well within British territory. Of course, Jackson did not find this out until he returned to the coast. The second was the death of Father Lourdel. Lourdel was the man who had the King’s ear and with him gone the British had a chance.

As Jackson was leaving Mengo Frederic Lugard was moving off the coast. Lugard was the company man that would settle the question of European control in Uganda. He marched towards Uganda armed with the Anglo-German treaty, 270 armed porters ( about 1/3 he classed as reliable), 50 Sudanese and Somali askari, a few other Europeans and a worn out Maxim gun. What he lacked was ammunition, he only had about 11 rounds apiece for the men when he arrived at Mengo.

Gedge was, unfortunately, not he man to leave behind. He was not one to stand up to the Kabaka and was soon beat down. His situation in Mengo soon became intolerable and he left for German territory. Before he left though, Gedge handed out the 180 Snider rifles and ammunition in his charge. This was incase the Muslims attacked.

Lugard arrived in Uganda by December 1890. He entered the country without asking permission of the Kabaka, set up his camp in the capital, and then told Mwanga when he would be ready for an audience. Upon their meeting, Lugard said he only came by to make his introductions and that other matters would wait. This was done and Lugard took his leave, again without asking for approval. Lugard’s bold approach earned him the respect of the king.

The company’s fort was begun on Kampala Hill, opposite Mwanga’s palace atop Mengo Hill. Lugard anxiously awaited the arrival of Mr. Williams, his second in command, with much needed supplies (including ammunition). He also began negotiations for a treaty with Mwanga. Lugard showed no partiality for either party and attempted to make friends with all the chiefs. In this, he met with some success, though it did nothing to bolster the Protestants resolve or curb the Catholics haughtiness. The result was an ever widening rift between the parties.

Mwanga’s court was divided down the middle. Half of his councillors were Catholic, the other half were Protestant. In addition, each office was controlled by its party. If a particular officer wished to change his party, he would forfeit his office and the controlling party would select a new officer. This arrangement was made after the last recapture of the capital by the combined Christian armies. Lugard’s indifference in the politics of court put the advantage to the Catholic side. Again the Wa-Ingleza were on the verge of exodus when a last deputation was sent to Lugard. They were given the impression that he was only biding his time until reinforcements arrived. This was good enough and the Protestants decided to stick it out.

As the year of 1891 dawned, Lugard continued work on his fort and got a signed treaty from Mwanga. The Protestant Bishop Tucker arrived at the capital, and finally at the end of January Williams showed up with more Sudanese and Swahilis and an additional Maxim.. Bishop Hirth, a Roman Catholic, arrived in February and the stage was set for a new round of religious turmoil.

Lugard was now ready, or thought he was ready to tackle the problems of this divided people. The arguments Lugard heard involved shamba, council positions. Those members who wished to change religions did not want to lose their shamba, while the leaders of the parties wished to rid themselves of those members leaning toward the opposite faction. Bishop Hirth brought up the question of religious freedom as proclaimed by the company charter. Lugard found a loophole around this point. It seems that party control of shamba was guaranteed in a treaty signed by the Catholics back in 1889. Lugards treaty with Mwanga respected previous treaties made by the factions. Lugard argued that a new treaty with the company would be required if he was to take up this subject.

It was lucky for Lugard at this time that the Muslims reentered the fray. Arab forces began raiding in the Unyoro Province (on the banks of Lake Albert). Again the Christians put aside their differences and marched against the common foe. Lugard was gone for the rest of the year. In that time he defeated the muslims and established a line of frontier outposts manned by Sudanese left by Emin Pasha.

Williams, who remained at Mengo, didn’t have it so easy. He was bombarded with accusations and stories of atrocities from both sides. It was only by the cool heads of the higher level chiefs that civil war was averted. But, the cool heads would only prevail while the muslim threat continued.

Lugard returned to Kampala Fort on December 31, 1891. He had 100 Sudanese troops with him (more leftovers from Emin) and found plenty of ammunition and other supplies at the fort. The rigors of campaigning had Lugard and while he waited for the trial of a gun theft complaint to begin he became ill. As he left he noticed the Wa-Fransa chief giggling amongst themselves and thought something was up. Lugard’s Swahili interpreter, Duala, stayed for the trial.

Duala reported the trial as follows: A Catholic sub-chief had a gun stolen by one of Apolo Kagwa’s men (Kagwa, a Protestant was the Katikiro the next office under Kabaka). Kagwa agreed to deliver a gun to the injured party, but was not forthcoming, as he was waiting for the return of one of his guns that was stolen previously. Therefore, the Wa-Fransa setup a ruse beer stand in the market and when a Wa-Ingleza stopped to get a drink, the snatched his rifle. This man, one Tabula by name, rounded up some guys to retrieve this gun. When they entered the enclosure containing the thief, they were met with a volley and Tabula fell.

The Kabaka Mwanga ruled that the Protestants took the law into their own hands and, therefore, got what they deserved. Lugard felt the trial was rigged. In response, he handed out 40 muzzleloading rifles and a barrel of powder to the Wa-Ingleza. Mwanga protested the handing out of rifles. Lugard in turn, protested the acquittal of the Catholic stating that, “… if no justice is done there will be war.” That night, the 23rd of January, the war drums were beating and Mwanga was moving powder and shot into the palace.

On the morning of the 24th, Mwanga set a message to Lugard asking him to call of the war. Lugard replied that he would be glad to if Tabula’s murderer was turned in and he recieved an apology for the insults of the past two days. While waiting for the Kabaka’s response, Lugard handed out about 150 Sniders and 300 to 350 muzzleloaders to the Wa-Ingleza. This was for their own protection as the Wa-Fransa we massing at the palace.

Around 11:00 am shots rang out. A wounded man was brought to the fort, shot by Catholic potato thieves. Lugard sent another letter to Mwanga demanding the perpetrator of this last act of violence. Mwanga sent in a peasant in place of the real perpetrator, but Lugard saw this as a sign of good faith and was ready to talk.

It was, however, too late. Some Catholics went to steal clothes and bananas from Kagwa’s plantation (as a sign of contempt for the Katikiro). They were chased off by Kagwa’s men, but returned in greater numbers and an argument ensued. Shots were exchanged and a Wa-Ingleza went down. A large group of Protestants in the market heard the shots and advanced up the road.

The Protestants were cut off by two Catholic enclosures which opened fire. Some Wa-Ingleza continued to battle their way up the main road to the palace, while another group circled around to the right. They met some resistance, but finally mounted Rubaga Hill, on which set the Catholic mission. The mission was put to the torch.

The burning church was visible by all in Mengo, including Lugard and Mwanga. The Wa-Fransa, in response to the burning of their church, assualted the enclosure of Apolo Kagwa enmasse. The Katikiro’s enclosure was just below the palace in a mainly Catholic part of town. Kagwa’s men were soon routed and ran to the fort. The Catholics were hotly pursued the Protestants until Lugard opened fire with one of his Maxim guns. Though it didn’t cause many casualties, it did check the Wa-Fransa advance.

This gave Apolo Kagwa time to regroup and counterattack. The Protestant advance was supported by Williams and 200 Sudanese. The Catholics broke on all fronts and escaped to the islands of lake Victoria.

Though there was still much work and fighting to be done, by the end of the day the I.B.E.A. Company was the ruler of Uganda

This was the east africa back in 1950's , a beautiful place be. comments are wellcome.