Kizza Frederick Wigram.
Kizza Frederick Wigram was martyred on June 5, 1886, at Namugongo, Wakiso, Uganda. Kizza was tipped off to flee by his master, one Mujaasi Kapalaga, who was involved in persecuting Christians, that Bambowa (two or more soldiers) were coming for him but did not take up the opportunity, responding, “Very well, let them do come. I am a Christian, and I am not afraid [to die].” Consequently, he was captured, taken for trial, and summarily condemned to death by “roasting” for being a Christian. According to the Catholic historian and priest John F. Faupel, he was clubbed to death before his body was thrown into the fire, where it burnt to ashes. As a Mumbowa (one soldier), he eye-witnessed much of the persecution of Christians in January 1885, only to become a victim in 1886.
Kizza was baptized on Sunday, September 21, 1884, barely a month before Mwanga II assumed the throne as Kabaka (king) of Buganda. His surname is a gender-neutral name in Buganda, often given to the immediate older sibling of twins. It is, however, used by other ethnicities in Uganda differently. In the early years of the development of the Luganda language, it was written as Kidza, but it is today written as Kizza. Ferederika, Ferederiko, Fredi, Fuledi, and Freddy are all variants of his baptismal name — Frederick. He adopted the entire name of the Rev’d Frederick E. Wigram, the honorary clerical secretary of the Church Missionary Society (CMS), on his baptism, albeit without the middle name.
It was common for Christian converts from Buganda during this era to adopt the names of prominent CMS missionaries and administrators in England as their Christian names. Lutamaguzi (aka Luta or Duta), a leading Protestant convert, was baptized Henry Wright upon his baptism in 1882. Henry Wright was another honorary clerical secretary of the CMS of his day. Sembera, the first Protestant convert in Uganda, was baptized Mackay after his teacher and friend, the Scottish missionary Alexander M. Mackay, the de facto head of the CMS in Uganda. Mukasa, one of the first five Ugandans to be baptized, chose as his baptismal name the Christian name of the person who had taken him up as his first student — Philip O’Flaherty. Mukasa’s wife also became Sarah after O’Flaherty’s wife upon baptism.
Following his conversion, Kizza married Mubulire, who was baptized Fanny. Mubulire was one of the earliest women to convert to Christianity and soon afterward became a teacher, attracting many women to the church.
Kizza was a Musaale (a sub-chief role as a guide) for the Muslim Mujaasi Kapalaga, the head of the bambowa, the position he used to torment Christians in every corner of Buganda. The religious historian and administrator John V. Taylor, however, says he held this same position for one Bugala, also the captain of Mwanga’s bambowa. But regardless of the actual name of his master, he accompanied him everywhere, which is how he witnessed Serwanga Joseph’s, Kakumba Mark’s, and Lugalama Joseph’s martyrdom on January 31, 1885. Kizza watched as Mujaasi carried out Mwanga’s orders to the letter, which also included dismembering their bodies for the parts to be displayed in specified locations to deter more conversions. According to the English missionary Robert P. Ashe, who at the time was in Uganda, as he was ensuring the death of the Christians, Mujaasi reportedly turned to Kizza, telling him that he had heard he was a Christian and if that were the case he would him and his household. “I am,” Kizza responded to his master, saying he was not afraid of dying either.
During Serwanga’s, Kakumba’s, and Lugalama’s arrest, the woman Nakimu Nalwanga Sarah, Mukasa Philip’s widow who had since married Lutamaguzi, was also arrested with her infant son when she was found in possession of the gospel of Matthew. The Bambowa had gone to her house for her husband only to find that he had fled. Instead, they took the ill Nakimu and her son. As she was tried, Kizza brought information that she was a blood relative of the Mwanga, the Kabaka, and missionaries also wished to exchange her life with gifts, and if released to them, they would ensure she never left their sight. She was eventually released.
Later, Kizza’s account of aspects of the events of the first martyrdom became a contentious issue between Joseph D. Mullins, the Secretary of the Colonial and Continental Church Society, and Ashe, who had held a conversation with Kizza about the issue.
Mullins wrote in his book The Wonderful Story of Uganda that the three Christians sang the Swahili hymn killa siku tuusifu (daily, daily, we sing) as they were being burnt, which Ashe disputed in a letter dated April 14, 1902. The former had quoted Mackay, who, like Ashe, was also in Uganda at the time of the martyrdom and had said something similar to what he wrote. Ashe, however, stated that Kizza, who had witnessed the martyrdom and with whom they talked afterward, never observed any singing during the burning, writing as thus,
“We had, then, in Kidza [Kizza] a careful, competent, trustworthy Christian eyewitness, who was close at hand from first to last, and who, when confronted with the report of the singing of the hymn in the fire, emphatically denied that any singing whatever took place from beginning to end. But whether they sang (or not) did not negate their martyrdom,” concluded the letter.
Because of his dear connection to one of the martyrs — Lugalama Joseph -, Ashe had also asked Kizza to lead him to the scene of his death. When they arrived, both knelt as Kizza prayed for Mujaasi’s heart to soften on the Christians.
In July 1885, the three CMS missionaries in Uganda concluded that they might be expelled from the country as persecution had only intensified since January and came up with the idea of forming a church council composed of Ugandans who would carry on the work in their absence. “We felt this to be a very necessary step, for in case of our [missionaries] being sent away, we wished them to have some organization,” writes Ashe in his book Two Kings of Uganda. “These elders were authorized to conduct service and to preach in our absence,” he added. Kizza was one of the twelve inaugural elders of this church council. Unfortunately, he was also one of the four who did not survive the persecution with Munyagabyanjo Robert, Walukagga Noah, and Bekokoto Shem.
Abdul Azziz, a Muslim who became an important witness in the canonization of the Catholic Uganda Martyrs, was an eyewitness to his martyrdom.
Bibliography
Ashe, R. P. Two Kings of Uganda. London, UK: S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, 1890.
Faupel, John Francis. African Holocaust. New York, NY: P. J. Kenedy, 1962.
Padwick, Constance E. Mackay of the Great Lake. London, UK: H. Milford, 1918.
Stock, Eugene. The History of the Church Missionary Society. London, UK: Church Missionary Society, 1899.
Taylor, John Vernon. The Growth of the Church in Buganda: An Attempt at Understanding. London, UK: T. & A. Constable LTD, 1958.
