Kabaka Muteesa I’s 1879 Mission to London: Survival Diplomacy in Buganda

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By 1879, the kingdom of Buganda found itself caught in the expanding shadow of empire. To the north, Egyptian forces were pushing deeper into the Upper Nile, threatening to extend their authority toward the Great Lakes.

In this episode of Those Who Came Before Us, we explore how Kabaka Muteesa I responded to this growing danger. Facing the possibility of Egyptian domination, the Kabaka turned to an unlikely strategy: diplomacy with European powers already present at his court.

Catholic and Protestant missionaries representing France and Britain, became potential channels through which Buganda might secure powerful allies. Muteesa’s decision to send a diplomatic mission to London in 1879 was not simply curiosity about the outside world. It was a calculated attempt at survival diplomacy, balancing foreign powers against one another in order to preserve Buganda’s independence.

Key Themes

• The Egyptian expansion into the Upper Nile and the fear it created in Buganda
• How missionaries became unexpected instruments of diplomacy
• Kabaka Muteesa I’s strategy of balancing foreign powers to protect his kingdom

Sources

Church Missionary Society. The Church Missionary Gleaner. Vol. 8. London: Church Missionary Society, 1881.

Forbes, F. A. Father Lourdel: Planting the Furthest Seeds in Africa. Reprint, Mediatrix Press, 2017.

Harrison, Alexina. Mackay of Uganda: The Missionary Hero of Uganda. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1891.

Kiwanuka, M. S. M. A History of Buganda: From the Foundation of the Kingdom to 1900. London: Longman, 1971.

Mukasa, Ham. Backward Never, Forward Ever: Translation by J.N Batte, Simuda Nyuma - Luganda: Ham Mukasa Foundation 2002.

Stock, Sarah Geraldina. The Story of Uganda and the Victoria Nyanza Mission. London: Religious Tract Society, 1892.

Wilson, Charles T., and Robert W. Felkin. Uganda and the Egyptian Soudan. Vol. 1. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, 1882.

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