Lugaflow rapper Earnest Nsimbi Zamba popularly known as GNL Zamba has come out to say that the ancient Kabaka of Buganda, Mwanga is a hero who was framed.
He made the remarks as the Christian world globally and more especially in Uganda remembered and celebrated the Uganda Martyrs. Zamba through his Facebook account said that every 3rd of June as Pan Africanists, they will celebrate a king who resisted colonial rule. And therefore Mwanga will be remembered as a hero and not a villain. Furthermore, the Kikankane rapper said that they will erect a statue in his honor.
It should be recalled that Kabaka Mwanga in 1886 ordered for the killing of these Christian converts. Mwanga had risen to the throne in 1884 at the age of 16 succeeding his father Muteesa 1.There were a number of religious wars by that time including different foreign religious sects. These proved a menace to Mwanga’s powers. The converts allegedly started disobeying the kingdom laws and traditions. These had the influence of the European missionaries.
Sensing the danger, they might cause to his reign and territory, Mwanga decided to do away with them mercilessly. They burnt them alive in different places in Buganda. However, they roasted a majority at Namugongo. And many years later, historians etched them into history books. Pope Paul VI even immortalized and declared them saints in 1967 at the St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican. However, with changing times and the unearthing of more historical facts day to day, some historians have praised Mwanga for the steps he took.
This is because these martyrs were dancing to the tunes of the foreigners. And as is known, these missionaries were only preparing the way for the great evil yet to befall, colonialism. Had probably most indigenous rulers in Africa resisted the earlier foreigners, colonization wouldn’t have thrived. The Catholics joined by their brothers however rampaged through the rapper’s comment section. They weren’t prepared to entertain such a talk about their heroes.
