Q.Explain the role of Christian missionaries in the colonization of East Africa.

ANSWER

----Missionaries signed treaties which were later used by colonialists to take over colonies e.g. Tucker, a British Missionary interpreted the 1900 Buganda Agreement to the regents of Kabaka Daudi Chwa II. This led to loss of political, economic and social powers to the British protectorate government. Sir Harry John stone who signed on behalf of the British government confessed that;

---“I John stone shall be bound to acknowledge the assistance offered to me by the missionaries especially the CMS. Without their assistance on my side, I do not think Uganda’s chiefs would agree to the treaty which practically places their country and land in the British hands”.

----(From partition of Africa by Prof Sempebwa).

------Missionaries supplied information to the colonialists which they utilized to plan how to effectively impose their colonial rule on how to crash the African resistance. In the religious wars in Buganda, the British fought behind the Protestants. Colonel Saddler a British commander once said;

------“The CMS was the first in the field …. Its connection with the political history of early days, the difficulties, it successfully surpassed and the assistance it rendered to the colonial government at the time of the rebellion are too well known to need recapitulation. There has been complete accord between the colonial government and Christian missionaries and in no single instance has there been a friction of any kind. I would wish to thank them for willing fully placing at my disposal a fund of information they have regarding the country and its people”.

------In fact there was a reciprocal relationship between missionaries and the colonialists that is why missionaries laid the ground work before the partitioners offered missionaries protection for the success of their evangelization mission. It’s here that words Reverend Willis are partnent;

-------“We as missionaries are indebted to the presence of the colonial government in this country and we would not forget when we reckon upon the triumph of the cross in Uganda. In how large a measure, these victories have been paved for us by others in the colonial government with its officers around us. We owe a peaceful country”.

-------The Church missionary society managed to raise enough funds for Imperial British East African Company for its staying in Uganda for at least 2 or more years. The church missionary society and Captain Lugard viewed that the company’s withdraw would live the British and the protestant party in a dangerous position versus Moslems.

----------Missionaries enhanced the growth of tropical raw materials like coffee, cotton to satisfy the British industrialists urge but disguising everything in Christianity. Bishop K. Boroup for example introduced cotton in Uganda.

-------They appealed to their home governments for protection in case of attack. It is in this light that Britain came to Uganda during the religious wars of 1884-1892 and later occupied Uganda.

------They created a collaborating class by luring it religiously and materially. This class helped colonialists to fight resistors despite the fact that they were all Africans.    

------In their evangelization role, they brain washed Africans with biblical teachings as “love your neighbor as you love yourself”, “blessed are the humble for the kingdom of God is theirs”, etc. With these preaching’s they made potential resistance important.

--------Religion was a mechanism of divide and rule. The converts and the non-converts hated each other which caused division to the advantage of the Europeans.       

-----Collaboration with chattered companies, European Christian missionaries and their converts worked hand in hand with the Imperial British East African Company to defeat Kabalega’s resistance.

------Missionary stations served as military bases from where the European colonial forces launched attacks on the resisting Africans. African Lugard used old kampala hill as a military base against Kabalega.

-------Mission stations served as colonial government headquarters. The established mission infrastructure was used to help in the establishment and sustenance of European colonial rule. 

--------Colonialists lacked skilled manpower, so the missionaries by design or accident were very faithful servants of the colonial government i.e. they were Colonial government servants.

-------They created a peaceful atmosphere for the germination of colonialism in areas of hostility. This is because they emphasized the centralized leadership where peace and obedience were expected.

--------Missionaries also trained manpower through introduction of education which was used by colonialists. This was done through teaching those academic subjects and manual skills like use of a plough and how to grow coffee. 

         --------They acted as interpreters e.g. Tucker in the 1900 Buganda agreement. 

--------Through conversion of the Buganda chiefs and pages before Buganda commoners it meant that each party i.e. the Church Missionary Society and France had gained converts. This was a political security of sympathy to the Christian missionaries as against the Kabaka in Buganda’s leadership. This indirectly undermined the Kabaka’s authority and respect i.e. his traditional power base was being eroded.

Q. Explain the reasons for the coming of Christian missionaries in East Africa.

ANSWER:

Missionaries came to East Africa for various reasons. These were economic, social, humanitarian and economic in nature as explained below; 

----The missionaries had the ambition to spread Christianity to the people of East Africa. This would be through preaching and teaching the holy gospel so that many would get converted to Christianity.

-----They wanted to fight against slave trade in East Africa. Earlier travelers like John Speke and James Grant, H.M. Stanley, Dr. David Livingstone and others had reported about the evils of slave trade in East Africa. Christian missionaries therefore came with an intention to stop it and introduce legitimate trade.

-----Missionaries wanted settle the freed slaves in East Africa by setting up resettlement centers both in the interior and at the coast for example at Bagamoyo and Frere town near Mombasa.

-----They wanted to check on the spread of Islam in East Africa from the coast with intentions of converting many to Christianity.

------Some missionaries came because they had been invited by certain African chiefs, For example, Muteesa I of Buganda wrote a letter through H.M Stanley   inviting missionaries to Buganda.

-----They came to establish legitimate trade in East Africa. They, for instance wanted to trade in items like glass, cloths, etc. as Dr. Livingstone told Cambridge University students, “I go back to Africa to make an open pass for commerce and Christianity…..” Similarly, his speech in 1857 emphasized the unity between Christianity and Commerce.  

----- The missionaries also loved to adventure and explore the interior of East Africa. For example Dr. John Ludwig Kraft of CMS is said to have been the first European to see Mt. Kenya while Johann Redman was the first to see Mt. Kilimanjaro.

-----They had a mission to clear the way for the colonization of East Africa. The missionaries were tasked by their home governments to preach ideas of love, respect, brotherhood, forgiveness, tolerance and non violence so that when the colonialists come, they would meet less resistance from the East Africans.

-----It’s also argued that missionaries wanted to “civilize” East Africans. They argued that they came to stop some of the barbaric acts and customs e.g. Female Genital Mutilation among the Kikuyu in Kenya, human sacrifices and the practice of killing twins.

          -----They had interest of reducing tribal conflicts in East Africa. E.g. conflicts between Buganda and Banyoro would be resolved with the coming of the Missionaries.

----Early contacts by travelers like Stanley, Speke and Grant, among others encouraged missionaries to come. The information they gave about important places like the source of the Nile, fertile soils, river falls and the climate all attracted the missionaries into East Africa.

----The expulsion of some of the missionaries from other parts of Africa led them into East Africa.  For example Johann Ludwig Kraft and Johann Redman are said to have been expelled from Ethiopia around 1842 before they chose to relocate to East Africa.

Q.Explain the reasons for the success of missionary work in East Africa.

ANSWER:

The missionaries’ success was noted in the economic, political and social fields and these are discussed as follows:

·         The evils of slave trade made East Africans welcome missionaries as liberators. Their campaign against slave trade won them much support from different tribes in East Africa.

·         The support they got from some of the local chiefs and kings led to their success. For instance Muteesa I of Buganda and Mirambo of Nyamwezi all gave them protection as well as rights to do their work in their territories.

·         The earlier explores helped to map out potential areas of East Africa for smooth missionary work. For instance, H.M Stanley had identified Buganda as a hospitable community for the missionaries and they were later welcomed by the Kabaka of Buganda in 1877.

·         The support missionaries got from their home governments led them to success.  This was inform of finance and physical manpower for instance colonial governments  gave protection to the missionaries whenever they were challenged by local chiefs or other threats. For instance Captain Lugard supported the Protestants in the religious wars in Buganda.

·         Some missionary groups sought for alliances with African chiefs. Such treaties of friendship made their work easy since the chiefs would call on their subjects to take on the missionary teachings.

·         The missionaries’ efforts to translate the bible into several local languages helped them succeed for example Kraft translated the New Testament of the Bible into Swahili and wrote a Swahili dictionary and a Grammar book.

·         The developments that missionaries found in societies like Buganda favored their work. For example, infrastructure around Buganda areas like Namirembe, Lubaga and Kampala in general made missionary work of putting up schools, hospitals and churches easy.

·         The industrial revolution had provided such technology like the printing press which made printing of bibles and other academic work easy.

·         Their efforts in life saving services like medical care (Quinine) won them great admiration among the people of East Africa that few were ready to oppose them.

·         The missionaries’ practical skills enabled them to survive even when their supplies from home delayed. They for instance adopted agriculture as soon as they settled anywhere. This ensured steady supply of food.

o    They employed locals as porters, interpreters, cooks or security guards hence winning the loyalty of many.

o    The death of Dr. David Livingstone in 1873 and other earlier missionaries increased the determination by many groups to see missionary work succeed in Africa, and East Africa in particular. E.g. the London news paper wrote after his death, “the work for Africa must hence forth begin in earnest where Livingstone left it off.”

o    Establishment of resettlement centers for freed slaves e.g. at Bagamoyo and Frere town near Mombasa where skills like carpentry, and agriculture were taught. Such communities thus looked at missionary work as “a life- saving mission”

Q. Explain the problems faced by missionaries in East Africa.

ANSWER:

• Christian missionaries in East Africa were faced with various problems which clipped their activities at times. These include:

• They faced the problem of language barrier. This was because East Africa had a multiplicity of languages hence rendering communication between the missionaries and the local people very difficult.  
  
• There was a problem of the influence of Islam. Arabs being the first group of people to arrive at the coast and interior had deep rooted Islam into the people thus making it difficult for the people to easily adopt Christianity. For example, by the time Sir Edward Frere arrived in East Africa (1873) Rebmann had only 6 converts.
  
• Existence of tropical diseases was yet another problem faced by the Christian missionaries. Tropical diseases like malaria, small pox, claimed many missionary lives thus making progress in their activities very difficult since they could be left very few in numbers.
  
• Another hardship was caused by geographical barriers. These included hilly areas, rivers, lakes and forests. These hindered their free movement to various places thus a threat to their activities.
  
• Divisions and quarrels between various missionary groups for example Catholics versus Protestants was a hindrance to their activities. This could create divisions and biases among the believers thus weakening their capacity to convert more converts.
  
• Poor transport was a hindrance to the missionary activities in East Africa. This was due to undeveloped roads at the time to help in the movement of missionaries from one place to another.
  
• Presence of hostile tribes in East Africa was also a problem that faced Christian missionaries. The Nandi and Masai who believed that strangers were not supposed to pass via their land could attack and kill many missionaries thereby reducing their numbers compared to the increasing number of converts.
  
• The presence of wild animals was also a threat to the missionary activities in East Africa. Man enters in Tsavo National Park consumed and threatened many whites. This clipped their activities at times.
  
• The missionaries faced the problem of lack of supplies. They for example lacked enough money, accommodation and drugs. This was because they originated from very far (Europe) thus making it difficult for them to have full time and constant supplies. Such put their lives at risk and could sometimes lead to death.
  
• The Christian missionaries faced the problem of stiff contradiction and rivals between European missionaries and traditional Africans. Customs like polygamy, satanic worship, etc were deep rooted into African communities which proved a threat for the missionaries to successfully uproot them.
  

The missionaries made their work difficult by involving in politics and judicial systems which were beyond spiritual jurisdiction. Local leaders could misinterpreted them as political rivals and organize their masses for resistance against missionary activities.

Q. Through their activities the missionaries became forerunners of colonialism.Justify this statement.

ANSWER:

Missionaries and Colonization

Christianity was introduced in North Africa as early as the first century AD., but it was only in the late nineteenth century, when colonialism was advancing, that Christianity seriously increased its presence on the continent (Ray, 1976: 193). In what later became Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, the first mission station was opened in Inyati close to Bulawayo in 1859 by the London Missionary Society through Reverend Robert Moffat. It is pertinent to keep the following critical questions in mind:

Who brought "education" but Christian missionaries? Who fought against tradition religions but Christian and Muslim missionaries? Who saw traditional religions as deadly adversaries but Christian missionaries? Who therefore detached the African from his [sic] religion but the church people? (Taban Lo Liyong, 1988:81-91)

There may have been many reasons for missionaries to travel to Africa, but not only as remarked by Father Wermter: "The community culture of Africa fascinated the European missionaries who came from individualistic cultures." Moyo remarks that the introduction of Christianity made the mistake of believing that to become a Christian, people had to be "removed from their indigenous cultures" (Moyo, 1983, in Haar, 1990: 139). African religions were treated as an evil which had to be encountered. This can be seen in the following quotation: "Once their children have gone to school, they begin to show interest in the strange religion of the white missionaries, religion which denies the truth of Tonga religious beliefs." It was frequently believed by Western missionaries that traditional religious beliefs and practices were inferior, and traditional customs had to be done away with before the acceptance of Christianity. This did not happen without resistance or problems, and gave for instance rise to the process which can be seen as religious syncretism in religious beliefs today. What Bishop Desmond Tutu described as a "form of schizophrenia" was thus the result of having to disclaim the indigenous culture before converting to Christianity (quoted in Moyo, 103). There is no reason to dismiss such attitudes as a thing of the past, however. Many of the same sentiments can be found in contemporary religious expressions and among the leaders of various religious groups.

The role of the missionaries in the colonisation of the region was also considerable in terms of cultural and political domination of the people. Although the missionaries' task was to make people accept the Bible and its teachings, Christianity was turned into an ideology which could be used to convince people not to resist white domination. Religion was used to legitimate, sustain and even promote political tyranny and oppression, as well as in other instances for reasons of political liberation of the people. In the words of Charles Villa-Vicencio, religion has functioned both as the "opiate of the people" and a "source of the social renewal" (1989: 25). Bourdillon, on the other hand, maintains that "missionary Christianity cannot simply be identified with colonialism" (Bourdillon, 1990: 269). Regardless of claims that the missionaries regarded themselves as opposed to the colonial ideology, they were part of the colonial structure and brought with them religions, beliefs and practices which were alien to the area. In the words of Father Wolf Schmidt, "the early missionaries did not differentiate between their faith and their own culture".

Missionaries and the Fight Against Colonialism

During the second Chimurenga or war of liberation in Zimbabwe, the church was criticised for not being vocal enough, appearing to be on the side of the oppressors, although some churches and missions did join or support the struggle for independence, particularly the rural missions. During the liberation war, however, traditional religions were playing an increasingly important role through the co-operation with the spirit mediums (see Lan and Hastings). Cultural identity and pride, so important for the struggle, were boosted thanks to the traditional religions which not only gave strength, but also which set the majority population apart from the ruling minority associated with Christianity. The spirit mediums became symbols of traditional power and knowledge, through their association with heroes of past times and through resistance to changes introduced by the colonial powers, the minority government and "white culture" in general.

Some missionaries and churches did, however, join the people in the fight against colonialism, although still often perceived as being on the side of the minority government. The Catholic Church of Zimbabwe voiced strong criticism of the minority rule, and particularly through Moto they spoke out against oppression of the people.50 The Catholic Church is among the religious groups who have gone the furthest in "indigenising" their leadership, church services, and forms of worship. Many of the leaders of the second Chimurenga had been educated at various mission schools. It is often argued, however, that mission education coincided with the colonisers' interest, as Rodney (1972) remarks: "Only education could lay the basis for a smooth-functioning colonial administration." The missions also had a stake in this, as it was significant for them to communicate with the people through the written word, and to translate the Bible into indigenous languages. Mission schools in varying degrees served the interests of the colonisers, the settler regimes, the missions themselves, and, finally, to some extent the people.