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New Evidence from Mission Archives on the Death of Galt in Ankole, Uganda, 1905

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2014

M. Tibamanya Mushanga  and
M. Louise Pirouet
M. Tibamanya Mushanga
Affiliation:
University of Nairobi
M. Louise Pirouet
Affiliation:
University of Nairobi
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Extract

Recently Edward Steinhart has discussed the assassination of the British colonial officer Harry St. G. Galt in Uganda in 1905. Steinhart's account is based almost entirely on the Entebbe Secretariat Archives and on interviews he conducted. It focuses on the political intrigue brought to light by the murder enquiry, but much of the interest derives from the mystery surrounding Galt's death. In our opinion, Steinhart comes very close to the truth when he writes of his discovery that a conclave of chiefs had been held on the night of the murder, and he begins to suspect that Kahaya, ruler of Ankole, as well as Igumira, a reactionary chief, were involved in a plot which was somehow intended to discredit Nuwa Mbaguta, enganzi (Prime Minister) of Ankole, and Igumira's rival. Steinhart is then deflected because he thinks that the evidence for a conspiracy rests only on this event, and on statements from Sir Charles Gasyonga, Kahaya's successor. We think we can come much closer to a solution to this mystery by using archival material which has hitherto escaped notice. The Diary of the White Fathers Mission at Mbarara, the capital of Ankole, refers to the events of this year, and for the first time offers a plausible motive for the assassination. The White Fathers Archives in Rome have been open to scholars for some years, but it seems that not all researchers are aware of the wealth of material which they contain. Mission archives assume particular importance in the case of Uganda, which is now virtually closed to research, and we will try to illustrate their value by reference to this incident.

Type
Research Article
Information
History in Africa , Volume 5 , 1978 , pp. 121 - 130
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1978

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References

1. Steinhart, E.I. “The Politics of Intrigue in Ankole, 1905,” African Studies Review 20(1977), pp. 1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar This incident is dealt with briefly in Pirouet, M.L., Black Evangelists, (London, 1977)Google Scholar, Chapter IV, Section 5. The main part of the present article appeared in draft form as a History Department seminar paper in the University of Nairobi, 1977, under the title “The Murder of Galt, or Agatha Christie Visits Ankole.”

2. Steinhart, , “Politics of Intrigue,” p. 13Google Scholar; Karugire, Samwiri R., Nuwa Mbaguta, (Nairobi, 1973), p. 57.Google Scholar

3. Other researchers have also been told that the murder was in some way intended to harm Mbaguta, though in fact Mbaguta profited. See Morris, H.F., “The Murder of H. St. G. Galt,” Uganda Journal 24(1960), p. 15Google Scholar; Doornbos, M., Regalia Galore, (Nairobi, 1975), p. 66ns.Google Scholar Both the present writers have been told this. It has been suggested that Mbaguta, as the one who profited most, should be considered as a possible villain, but Mbaguta's whole career depended on his alliance with the British, and it seems unthinkable that he was the murderer.

4. A first printed catalog to the documents in the Annexe of the Archives of the White Fathers was published in 1970.

5. Morris, , “Murder,” p. 15.Google Scholar

6. A large part of the material relating to the actual murder forms a composite diary entry dated April 1905, even though it refers mostly to events after that date.

7. Gray, J.M., “A History of Ibanda, Saza of Mitoma, Ankole,” Uganda Journal 2(1960), p. 170.Google Scholar

8. Karugire, , Nuwa Mbaguta, p. 10.Google Scholar

9. Ibid., pp. 58-78.

10. Ibid., p. 27. The British were persuaded that Kahaya was Ntare's son; see Morris, , A History of Ankole, (Nairobi, 1962), p. 33.Google Scholar

11. Igumira returned to Ankole in 1903, not 1905. See Morris, , History, p. 40Google Scholar, and numerous entries in the Mbarara Diary for 1903.

12. Ibid., 3 and 10 October 1903.

13. Ibid., 9 November 1903.

14. Ibid., 22 January 1904; Karugire, , Nuwa Mbaguta, p. 28.Google Scholar

15. Mbarara Diary, April 1905.

16. Morris, , History, p. 15Google Scholar; Doornbos, , Regalia Galore, p. 57Google Scholar; Pirouet, Blaak Evangelists, Chapter IV, Section 5; Mushanga, oral information.

17. Mbarara Diary, April 1905. Omissions in original.

18. Karugire, , Nuwa Mbaguta, p. 57.Google Scholar

19. Mbarara Diary, April 1905.

20. Ibid.

21. Kahaya was a very heavy man, often carried in a basket-work litter.

22. Mbarara Diary, 24 October 1905.

23. Mbarara Diary, 7 December 1905.

24. In 1904 there had been an uprising against the White Fathers in Rwanda, and this may well have reinforced Gorju's fears that a general rising was planned in Ankole. See Ian, and Linden, Jane, Churah and Revolution in Rwanda, (London, 1977), pp. 52–57.Google Scholar

25. Doornbos, , Regalia Galore, p. 66.Google Scholar

26. Mbarara Diary, 7 and 10 December 1905.

27. Ibid., 10 December 1905.

28. Karugire, , Nuwa Mbaguta, pp. 58–78.Google Scholar

29. Doornbos, personal communication.