The Last Pre-Colonial King of Buganda: Lulu Jemimah (1885)
History is full of kings and queens with bad reputations – from power-hungry despots to self-important narcissists, violet sadists to self-righteous crusaders. On closer inspection, however, we often find these reputations weren’t always entirely justified. That’s the argument that my guest today, Lulu Jemimah, makes for King Mwanga II – the last king of Buganda before British colonial rule.
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King Mwanga II is known mostly for his part in killing 45 young pages who were Christian converts between January 1885 and January 1887, later known as the Uganda martyrs. Some scholars have argued that Mwanga was bisexual and that he had the pages killed after they refused his sexual advances in court.
But what if Mwanga’s reign and reputation were more complicated than the picture this story paints? Mwanga came to the throne aged sixteen and inherited a kingdom which was under threat from European powers engaged in a “Scramble for Africa”.
Mwanga had many challenges during his reign. It was reported that his brother Kalema had been the obvious choice for the throne and this was back in the 19th century when kings were known to kill each other for this rite. King Mwanga did not grow up in the Royal court and most of his advisors including his prime minister were inherited from his father Muteesa I. Many of the decisions taken in court were directly made by these advisors.
In this episode Lulu takes us to the first year in Mwanga’s reign. We visit three crucial moments for the young king as he tried to navigate the fractious politics of his kingdom at a turning point in the region’s history.
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Show Notes
Scene One: September, 1855. A meeting is held between Mwanga and his chiefs to discuss European influence on the continent.
Scene Two: October, 1885. The execution of Bishop Hannington
Scene Three: 15th November 1885. The execution of king’s close friend and confidante Joseph Mukasa Balikudembe by the Prime minister.
Momento: The snake that tried to kill King Mutesa.
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Presenter: Artemis Irvine
Guest: Lulu Jemimah
Production: Maria Nolan
Podcast partner: Unseen Histories
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About Lulu Jemimah
Lulu Jemimah is a writer, producer, and media consultant from Uganda. With over ten years’ experience she has worked across different platforms from print to radio, stage, and screen. She has also been involved in communicating research to broader audiences across topics like health, economics, history and politics. Her research applies elements of creativity in analysing both historical and contemporary culture in the media. She graduated with a BA Media (Film) from Macquarie University in Australia and a Mst. in Creative Writing. She loves telling stories from her country Uganda.
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