UGANDA, MARTYRS OF

a group of 22 African Roman Catholics who were executed during the persecution of Christians under Mwanga, kabaka (ruler) of Buganda (now part of Uganda) from 1885 to 1887. The first Roman Catholic missions to Bantu-speaking Africa were established by the White Fathers Mission in 1879. Christians were tolerated by the kabaka Mutesa I, but his successor, Mwanga, launched a campaign against them. Mwanga massacred the Anglican missionary bishop James Hannington and his colleagues in October 1885. St. Joseph Mukasa, an important member of the royal household, reproached the kabaka for the massacre and for his homosexual debauchery. On November 15 of that year, Mwanga had Joseph beheaded. The Christian pages under Joseph's guidance became the next victims. For their refusal to satisfy his sexual demands, Mwanga, having learned that they had received religious instruction from the page St. Denis Ssebuggwawo, ordered that all the youths be arrested. St. Charles Lwanga, Mukasa's successor, then secretly baptized those boys who had only been catechumens. The following day they were herded away to the village of Namugongo. Three of them were murdered en route (St. Pontian Ngondwe, a soldier, and the royal servants Athanasius Bazzekuketta and Gonzaga Gonza). All the survivors, as recorded by Father Lourdel, superior of the Roman Catholic mission to Uganda, were imprisoned for a week. With the exception of St. Mbaga-Tuzinde, who was bludgeoned by his own father, the following pages were burned alive on June 3, 1886: Saints Ambrose Kibuka, Anatole Kiriggwajjo, Achilles Kiwanuka, Mugagga, Mukasa Kiriwawanvu, Adolphus Mukasa Ludigo, Gyavira, and Kizito. The soldiers and officials Saints Bruno Serunkuma, James Buzabaliawo, and Luke Banabakintu were martyred with them. Mwanga continued his persecution, destroying Protestant and Roman Catholic missionaries alike. Subsequent victims included Saints Matthias Mulumba, assistant judge to a provincial chief; Andrew Kaggwa, chief of Kigowa; and Noe Mawaggali, a Roman Catholic leader. The page St. Jean Marie Muzeyi was beheaded on Jan. 27, 1887. Collectively, the martyrs were solemnly beatified by Pope Benedict XV in 1920 and canonized by Pope Paul VI on Oct. 18, 1964. Their feast day is June 3. Additional reading Accounts of the martyrs are found in J.P. Thoonen, Black Martyrs (1941); and J.F. Faupel, African Holocaust, 2nd rev. ed. (1965). The economy The economy is basically agricultural, and it occupies some four-fifths of the working population. Uganda's moderate climate is especially congenial to the production of both livestock and crops. As has been the case with most African countries, economic development and modernization have been enormous tasks that have been impeded by the country's political instability. In order to repair the damage done to the economy by the governments of Idi Amin and Milton Obote, foreign investment in agriculture and core industries, mainly from Western countries and former Asian residents, was encouraged. The 1991 Investment Code offered tax and other incentives to local and foreign investors and created the Uganda Investment Authority, which made it easier for potential investors to procure licenses and investment approval. The economy improved rapidly during the 1990s, and Uganda has been acclaimed for its economic stability and high rates of growth. It is one of the few African countries praised by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the international financial community for its economic policies of government divestiture and privatization and currency reform. Uganda has been particularly successful in soliciting international support and loans. In 1997 it was selected as one of the few countries to receive debt relief for its successful implementation of stringent economic reform projects. Because of this, Uganda has been able to focus on eradicating poverty and expanding resource exploitation, industries, and tourism. Resources Uganda contains reserves of copper, apatite, tungsten, beryl, columbo-tantalite, gold, bismuth, phosphate, and limestone. Copper mines in the western town of Kilembe operated until they were closed at the end of the 1970s; they reopened in 1994. Gold, tungsten, and tin are also mined. Gold is an important export, but it is complicated by the fact that gold has been smuggled into Uganda from Congo (Kinshasa). Exploration for petroleum, while showing geological potential, particularly under Lakes Albert and Edward, has proceeded slowly. The land Relief Most of Uganda is situated on a plateau, a large expanse that drops gently from about 5,000 feet (1,500 metres) in the south to approximately 3,000 feet (900 metres) in the north. The limits of Uganda's plateau region are marked by mountains and valleys. To the west a natural boundary is composed of the Virunga (Mufumbiro) Mountains, the Ruwenzori Range, and the Western Rift Valley. The volcanic Virunga Mountains rise to 13,540 feet (4,125 metres) at Mount Muhavura and include Mount Sabinio (11,960 feet [3,645 metres]), where the borders of Uganda, Congo (Kinshasa), and Rwanda meet. Farther north the Ruwenzori Rangepopularly believed to be Ptolemy's Mountains of the Moonrises to 16,795 feet (5,115 metres) at Margherita Peak, Uganda's highest point; its heights are often hidden by clouds, and its peaks are capped by snow and glaciers. Between the Virunga and Ruwenzori mountains lie Lakes Edward and George. The rest of the boundary is composed of the Western Rift Valley, which contains Lake Albert and the Albert Nile River. The northeastern border of the plateau is defined by a string of volcanic mountains that include Mounts Morungole, Moroto, and Kadam, all of which exceed 9,000 feet (2,750 metres) in elevation. The southernmost mountainMount Elgonis also the highest of the chain, reaching 14,178 feet (4,321 metres). South and west of these mountains is an eastern extension of the Rift Valley, as well as Lake Victoria. To the north the plateau is marked on the Sudanese border by the Imatong Mountains, with an elevation of about 6,000 feet (1,800 metres). Drainage The country's drainage system is dominated by six major lakesVictoria (26,828 square miles [69,484 square metres]), the world's second largest inland freshwater lake (after Lake Superior in North America and one of the sources of the Nile River), to the southeast; Edward and George to the southwest; Albert to the west; Kyoga in central Uganda; and Bisina in the east. Together with the lakes, there are eight major rivers. These are the Victoria Nile in central Uganda; the Achwa, Okok, and Pager in the north; the Albert Nile in the northwest; and the Kafu, Katonga, and Mpongo in the west. The southern rivers empty into Lake Victoria, the waters of which escape through Owen Falls near Jinja and form the Victoria Nile. This river flows northward through the eastern extension of Lake Kyoga. It then turns west and north to drop over Karuma Falls and Murchison Falls before emptying into Lake Albert. Lake Albert is drained to the north by the Albert Nile, which is known as the Al-Jabal River, or Mountain Nile, after it enters The Sudan at Nimule. Rivers that rise to the north of Lake Victoria flow into Lake Kyoga, while those that rise north of it tend to flow into the Albert Nile. The rivers of the southwest flow into Lakes George and Edward. Except for the Victoria and Albert Niles, the rivers are sluggish and often swampy. Clear streams are found only in the mountains and on the slopes of the Rift Valley. Most of the rivers are seasonal and flow only during the wet season, and even the few permanent rivers are subject to seasonal changes in their rates of flow. The people Ethnic groups Although Uganda is inhabited by a large variety of ethnic groups, a division is usually made between the Nilotic North and the Bantu South. Bantu speakers are the largest portion of Uganda's population. Of these, the Ganda (BaGanda; the prefix Ba- is often affixed to indicate the people) remain the largest single ethnic group, constituting almost one-fifth of the total national population. Other Bantu speakers are the Soga, Gwere, Gisu, Nyole, Samia, Toro, Nyoro, Kiga, Rwanda (Banyarwanda), Nyankole, Amba, and Konjo. Nilotic languages are represented by Acholi (Acoli), Lango (Langi), Alur, Padhola, Kumam, Teso, Karamojong, Kakwa, and Sebei and represent more than one-tenth of the population. Central Sudanic peoples are also found in the north and include the Lendu, Lugbara, and Madi. Together they constitute less than one-tenth of the population. Under British colonial rule, economic power and education were concentrated in the south. As a result, the Bantu came to dominate modern Uganda, occupying most of the high academic, judicial, bureaucratic, and religious positions and a whole range of other prestigious roles. However, the British recruited overwhelmingly from the north for the armed forces, police, and paramilitary forces. This meant that while economic power lay in the south, military power was concentrated in the north, and this imbalance has to a large extent shaped the political events of postcolonial Uganda. South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis), speaking mostly Gujarati and Hindi, came to Uganda largely in the 19th and 20th centuries and by 1969 numbered more than 50,000. Although Ugandan citizenship was made available to them when Uganda became independent, most Asians chose not to accept this offer. The population declined drastically when Idi Amin, head of government from 1971 to 1979, expelled all noncitizen Asians in 1972. He commandeered both their businesses and personal goods and redistributed them to the remaining African population. For a relatively short time, his actions proved immensely popular with most Ugandans, but the country has recovered slowly from the economic consequences of the expulsions. In the early 1990s, the Ugandan government formally invited the expelled Asian community to return; thousands did so, and some had their property returned to them. In the 1960s Uganda also had approximately 10,000 resident western Europeans and North Americans, who served mostly in the professions. Most left the country around the time of the Asian deportations. Languages There are at least 32 languages spoken in Uganda, but English, Swahili, and Ganda (LuGanda) are the most commonly used. Although only a fraction of the populace speaks English well, access to high office, prestige, and economic and political power is almost impossible without an adequate command of that language. Swahili was chosen as another official national language in the late 1980s because of its potential for facilitating regional integration, although Ugandans' command of Swahili falls substantially below that of Tanzania, Kenya, and even eastern Congo (Kinshasa). In addition, Swahili is unpopular with a large proportion of Ugandans who consider it the language of past dictators and armies, and the 1995 constitution lists only English as the official language. Uganda's indigenous languages are coextensive with its different ethnic groups. In addition to English, French, and Swahili, Radio Uganda broadcasts in more than 20 indigenous languages including Alur, Ganda, Lugbara, Masaba, Rwanda, Nyankole, Nyole, Soga, and Teso (Iteso). Most Ugandans can understand several languages.