Aspects Of British Colonialism In Uganda And Kenya History Essay

Aspects Of British Colonialism In Uganda And Kenya History Essay Uganda and Kenya as British protectorates were founded in 1894. Colonization of Africa employed a number of methods. The main ones were the use of the gun the Bible or religion. Buganda was colonized by the gun, Bible and koran. The Bible and koran teachings became effective ways of establishing a fanatical following which eventually played a crucial role in the political landscape of buganda. By 1867 islam was established in buganda and Mutesa I was already observing the ramadhan and learning to read the koran. Mutesa I pages at his courts fully converted though Mutesa I never converted fully to islam. The Christian Missionary Society (CMS) arrived in buganda in June 1877. After two years the roman catholic white fathers arrived in buganda. The arrival of these two groups not only ignited a rivalry between them but confused the buganda (EnterUganda). Just as Uganda, Kenya had its share of missionary activity which sprang up from the coastal part of the region. Missionaries first la nded at the coastal town which had been previously explored and dominated by the arab traders who came in with the koran. However the factional fights that were characteristic of the buganda were not with Kenya mainly because of the ethnic set up diversity that existed in Kenya. Later on the establishment of colonial boundaries would greatly affect these more than 40 different communities who were now brought together into one territory. In the case of the buganda and on a broader scale there was rivalry between the French who were catholic inclined and the English who were protestant inclined. In this rivalry was also a scramble for products and cheap raw materials source. On the other hand the earliest foreign expeditions in Kenya were mainly missionary expeditions and were mainly to open up the inland for the sake of the gospel. The scramble for raw materials would however come later as a secondary factor. The coming of the missionaries caused religion to spread rapidly throughou t the entire east African region. For Kenya the spread advanced from the coastal region into the interior, whereas for Uganda the kabaka hosted the missionaries whose activities fanned out from the palace into the entire region. The Imperial British East Africa chose to move in and establish British sphere influence. Sending FJ Jackson who spearheaded this mission. Jackson sought to sign a treaty with Mwanga who was enjoying catholic backing after Karl Peters a German favoured by the catholics arrived in buganda. The Germany influence and interest over buganda was curtailed by the signing of the Heligoland treaty of July 1890. In this treaty buganda was officially recognized as a British sphere of influence in return for Heligoland island in the north sea to the Germans (EnterUganda) In Kenya it all began at the 1884 to 1885 Berlin Conference which was the basis on which was set the rules of colonial occupation. Combining with the 1886 Anglo-German Agreement and other inter- Europea n territorial arrangements, the Berlin conference was instrumental in not only erecting artificial boundaries around Kenya but also in removing diplomatic initiative from Kenyan people. This was just a precursor of the demarcation of the Kenyan territory that would follow in the year 1894. Imperial British East Africa now had a firm grip on the two east African states Kenya and Uganda. However in order to further protect their interests in Uganda the Imperial British East Africa later send Captain Fredrick Lugard to counter the threat posed by Emin Kasha in Sudan who was planning to annex buganda and bunyoro to Turkey. Charles Stoke a missionary turned arms dealer who was also plotting to arm Kabalega needed to be dealt with because kabalega being unfriendly to the British would be a risk if he was armed.. Captain Lugard successfully forestalled their plans. However the coming of Captain Lugard was viewed by Mwanga and the catholic backed regime as a triumph for the protestant. Luga rd signed a treaty with Mwanga and fought alongside him to defeat the muslim invasion. Captain Lugard also entered an agreement with Ntare V to stop arms from reaching Kabalega.