| Ssekabaka Muteesa I Mukaabya Walugembe Kayiira | |
| Kabaka of Buganda | |
| Reign: | 1856–1884 |
| Predecessor: | Suuna II of Buganda |
| Successor: | Mwanga II of Buganda |
| Spouse: | He married at least 85 wives |
| Royal House: | Abalasangeye dynasty |
| Father: | Suuna II of Buganda |
| Mother: | Abakyala Muganzirwazza of Njovu Clan |
| Birth Date: | c. 1837 |
| Birth Place: | Mulago Hill, Kampala, Uganda |
| Death Date: | October 1884 (aged 47) |
| Death Place: | Kasubi Nabulagala, Kampala, Uganda |
| Place Of Burial: | Kasubi Nabulagala |
| Mother's Details: | Muganzirwaza of Buganda, Queen mother and wife of Suuna II of Buganda belonged to the Njovu clan. She's buried at Kazo next to her Brother Kamanyiro of the Kamanyiro sub-clan of the Njovu(Elephant totem) |
Muteesa I Mukaabya Walugembe Kayiira (c. 1837–9 October 1884) was the 30th Kabaka of the Kingdom of Buganda, from 1856 until 1884.
He was born at the Batandabezaala Palace, at Mulago, in 1837. He was the son of Kabaka Ssuuna II Kalema Kasinjo, Kabaka of Buganda, who reigned between 1832 and 1856. His mother was Nabakyala Muganzirwazza, the Namasole, one of the 148 recorded wives of his father. He ascended the throne upon the death of his father in October 1856.
According to historian MSM Kiwanuka, Muteesa was "an insignificant obscure prince",[1] compared to his brothers Prince Kajumba and Prince Kiyimba. Kajumba was his father's preferred heir, as Suuna frequently pointed out to his chiefs the heroic qualities of the prince. However, the chiefs, led by the Katikkiro Kayiira felt that Kajumba would be difficult to control. Muteesa, an unpopular choice, was chosen ahead of his brothers.
He was crowned at Nabulagala. He established his capital, first on Banda Hill. Later he abandoned that palace and established capitals at Nakatema, Nabbingo, Kabojja, and finally at Kasubi, Nabulagala.[2] The capital at Kabojja got its name due to the numerous executions carried out while the king was resident there, as the name echoes something as deadly as a snake bite.[3]
Following his ascension to the throne, Muteesa, with the help of Kayiira, had his rival princes imprisoned on Kisimi Island. Some notable chiefs hatched a plot to overthrow the new king and replace him with Prince Kiyimba. However, the plot was foiled and the conspirators, along with Prince Kiyimba and Prince Kajumba, were executed.
Like his forefathers, Muteesa fought several wars of conquest to expand Buganda's territory, to protect its trade routes and to defend it against external foes like Bunyoro Kitara, the Khedivate of Egypt, slave traders and Buvuma. These trade routes enabled Buganda to trade its Ivory, Barkcloth, Bananas, fish, and slaves for firearms, salt, cloth Textile, copper wire, Iron axes, hoes and knives from the coast and neighboring Kingdoms.
Like his father Ssuuna II, Muteesa expanded Buganda's naval fleet to gain more influence and control over parts of Lake Nnalubaale especially Ssese Islands and Buvuma which would later become an important trade route for Buganda's Ivory.
Muslim Swahili and Arab traders from Zanzibar were increasingly established in Buganda since the 1840s to trade firearms, gunpowder, salt, and cloth in exchange for ivory and slaves. During Kabaka Muteesa I's reign, these contacts continued and he converted to Islam.
Muteesa intervened in Bunyoro's succession civil war after the death of the Omukama Kamurasi in order to gain influence over Bunyoro Kitara.
At the same time, contact was made with European visitors for the first time in 1862 when John Hanning Speke and James Augustus Grant arrived. Their positive accounts attracted more visitors and Henry Morton Stanley arrived in 1875.[4]
General Charles George Gordon Pasha governor of Equatoria province, the Khedivate of Egypt, sent several envoys to Buganda. One envoy Charles Chaill%C3%A9-Long in 1874 and another in 1875, called Colonel M. Ernest Linant de Bellefonds [Bey], son of the renowned French engineer Louis Maurice Adolphe Linant de Bellefonds. Gordon wanted Muteesa I to stop selling Buganda's ivory to the Sultanate of Zanzibar and instead sell it to the Khedivate of Egypt. Sending the ivory to Gondokoro, Sudan would help solve the financial problems of Gordon's administration.
In order to protect his kingdom, Muteesa I needed modern arms, ammunition and alliances with a more powerful entity like the British Empire. Muteesa had Henry Morton Stanley write a letter on his behalf to Queen Victoria. This letter was handed to Colonel Linant de Bellefonds who Stanley met at Muteesa's court in 1875. Unfortunately, Linant was killed before he could deliver the letter but it still found its way to the United Kingdom and was published in the Daily Telegraph in November 1875. As a result of the letter, the first set of Protestant missionaries, Edward John Baxter and Henry Cole, from the Church Missionary Society (CMS, Church Mission Society), arrived in Buganda in 1877. Catholic missionaries arrived in 1879, in the persons of Fr Simon Lourdel Monpel, M.Afr., and Brother Amans, M.Afr.
All three visitor groups were made to believe that Kabaka Muteesa I preferred their religion over the others. They thus wrote favorable reviews back home to their respective governments, encouraging trade and friendly relations. As a result, Buganda, and Uganda were not colonized but were offered status of a protectorate.
Muteesa's relationship with the Catholic Church was strong, such that much of his court converted and also many of his people. This would later cause controversy, however, when his son succeeded him and was far less friendly to the missionares' cause (going so far as to murder Christians on multiple occasions).
He died at Kasubi Nabulagala on 9 October 1884 at the age of 47, and was buried on 18 October 1884 at Kasubi, the first Kabaka to be buried there. In 2007, Muteesa I Royal University was opened in his name, in recognition of his contribution to the education of the people of Buganda and Uganda. The first chancellor of the university was Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, the current reigning Buganda monarch. In June 2016, Julia Sebutinde was installed as chancellor of the University, replacing Kabaka Mutebi II, who installed her and then became The Visitor of the University. Kabaka Mutebi being Chancellor was making it hard for Regulatory Authorities of the Ugandan Universities system to hold the institution accountable on some issues since being King of the largest ethnic group in the country makes him someone who is sacred.[5]
Muteesa I Mukaabya Walugembe Kayiira is reported to have married 87 wives.[6]
He is reported to have fathered 98 children, including:
In Ugandan historiography, Muteesa left a mixed legacy, with some regarding him as the most important of the kings of Buganda because of his vision and diplomatic skills, while others are more critical and believe he welcomed foreign influence that ultimately undermined Buganda's sovereignty.[7]
The Catholic Church, alleged by Ugandan officials to have been somewhat reluctant to honor him in the years following his death, began to more fully recognize his religious contributions in the 21st century, after canonizing the Christian martyrs who died under the reign of his son. A Catholic museum in Muteesa's honor was under construction as of 2019.[8]
"Under his rule Buganda was never seriously threatened, either with civil war or conquest. He became more powerful and more civilised. He allowed the missionaries to teach that it was possible to owe a higher allegiance than to their King, and while he lived their lives were safe. He had the strengths and subtlety to balance the Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and pagans, so that he controlled them all, just as he kept in touch with the rest of the world, but managed not to be swamped by it. If he turned inward at the end it was but a mild taste of what was to come."—Kabaka Mutesa II, Desecration of My Kingdom (1967)