# Ham Mukasa > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ham_Mukasa > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ham_Mukasa.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham_Mukasa > Source revision: 1342158618 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Ham Mukasa** also referred to as **Hamu Mukasa** (c. 1870–1956)[1][2] was a [vizier](/source/Vizier) in the court of [Mutesa I of Buganda](/source/Mutesa_I_of_Buganda) (in present-day [Uganda](/source/Uganda)) and later secretary to [Apolo Kagwa](/source/Apolo_Kagwa). He was fluent in both [English](/source/English_language) and [Swahili](/source/Swahili_language). He wrote one of the first glossaries of the [Ganda language](/source/Luganda).[3] ## Early life Mukasa was the son of Makabugo Sensalire, a minor chief in [Buddu](/source/Buddu) (in present-day [Masaka District](/source/Masaka_District)).[4] He converted to Christianity at a young age.[3] He suffered serious injury in the 1886 massacre of Christians by [Mwanga II](/source/Mwanga_II_of_Buganda).[5] As a result, he had a weak leg.[6] Around 1898, he married Hannah Mawemuko, the daughter of a former chief minister ([Katikkiro](/source/Katikkiro)) of Buganda.[4] ## Career Ham Mukasa was placed in the palace of [Kabaka Mutesa I](/source/Muteesa_I_of_Buganda) as a page at the age of nine by his father, a clan chief in Buganda.[7] While in the palace, Mukasa at first received instruction from Islamic teachers who held sway in Mutesa's court; however, he was later drawn to the Protestants, who baptised him Ham.[7] It was as a Christian, and as a Protestant, that he took part in Buganda's religious wars of 1888–1892.[7] Mukasa was appointed the ssaza (county) chief of Kyaggwe - known as the Ssekiboobo - in 1905,[8] and served in the position until 1935 when he retired.[9] ## Journeys in England Mukasa's book *Uganda's Katikiro in England* details his experiences on his journey from his homeland to the coronation of [Edward VII of the United Kingdom](/source/Edward_VII_of_the_United_Kingdom), as secretary to *Katikkiro* (Prime Minister) [Apolo Kagwa](/source/Apolo_Kagwa).[10] It was translated into English by Ernest Millar of the [Church Mission Society](/source/Church_Mission_Society) in Uganda.[6] In London, Mukasa stayed at [Alexandra Palace](/source/Alexandra_Palace), and visited the [London Hippodrome](/source/Hippodrome,_London), attended a play in [Drury Lane](/source/Drury_Lane), and met with a variety of people such as writer [Henry Morton Stanley](/source/Henry_Morton_Stanley) and ex-[governor of Uganda](/source/List_of_Governors_of_Uganda) [Harry Johnston](/source/Harry_Johnston).[11] Ham Mukasa returned to England in 1913,[8] this time accompanying the child [Kabaka Cwa](/source/Daudi_Cwa_II_of_Buganda) who was on an official visit.[12] ## Personal life Ham Mukasa married his first wife, Hanna Wawemuko when he was 27 years old.[13] They had four children together. Wawemuko died in 1919, and Mukasa remarried a year later. He had ten children with his second wife, Sarah Nabikolo.[13] Victoria Sarah Kisosonkole, Mukasa's daughter with Hanna Wawemuko, was the mother of Damali Kisosonkole and Sarah Kisosonkole, who were both married to [Ssekabaka Edward Muteesa II.](/source/Mutesa_II_of_Buganda)[14] Sarah Kisosonkole is the mother of the current [Kabaka of Buganda](/source/Kabaka_of_Buganda), [Muwenda Mutebi II](/source/Muwenda_Mutebi_II_of_Buganda).[15] There is a statue of Hamu Mukasa erected at the Uganda Museum, and his memory is also kept alive by the [Ham Mukasa Museum](/source/Ham_Mukasa_Museum), which is situated at Nassuuti village along Mukono-Kayunga road. It contains his belongings, works, and artifacts and stands as a site for education and a reminder of his work towards Ugandan history. ## References **Notes** 1. Barringer, Terry (1996). "The Drum, the Church, and the Camera: Ham Mukasa and C. W. Hattersley in Uganda". *International Bulletin of Missionary Research*. **20** (2): 66–70. [doi:10.1177/239693939602000204](https://doi.org/10.1177/239693939602000204) 1. ["History in progress Uganda, Part 1: the Ham Mukasa archive (EAP656)"](https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP656). *British Library*. 2017-09-06. 1. Gikandi 2003 1. Pirouet & Harrison 2004 1. Gikandi 1998, p. 16 1. Green 1998, p. 19 1. Rowe, John A. (1989). "Eyewitness Accounts of Buganda History: The Memoirs of Ham Mukasa and His Generation". *Ethnohistory*. **36** (1): 61–71. [doi:10.2307/482741](https://doi.org/10.2307/482741). [JSTOR 482741](https://www.jstor.org/stable/482741) 1. Ham., Mukasa (1998). [*Uganda's Katikiro in England*](https://archive.org/details/ugandaskatikiroi00muka). Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0719054370. [OCLC 38948304](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/38948304) 1. ["Ham Mukasa Ssekibobo Of Buganda"](https://web.archive.org/web/20171014133541/http://hammukasa-buganda.webs.com/). Archived from [the original](http://hammukasa-buganda.webs.com) on 2017-10-14. Retrieved 2022-03-26. 1. Mukasa, Ham (1904). [*Uganda's Katikiro in England: Being the Official Account of His Visit to the Coronation of His Majesty Edward VII*](http://www.wdl.org/en/item/9950). London: Hutchinson & Company. 1. Green 1998, p. 21 1. P., Green, Jeffrey (1998). *Black Edwardians : Black people in Britain, 1901-1914*. London: Frank Cass. ISBN 1136318232. [OCLC 819635740](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/819635740) 1. ["The Uganda journal"](http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00080855/00067). *ufdc.ufl.edu*. p. 185. Retrieved 2018-01-18. 1. ["Lady Damali Kisosonkole"](https://www.bukedde.co.ug/bukedde/ebyafaayo/1364938/lady-damali-kisosonkole). *Bukedde Online*. 2010-07-14. Retrieved 19 January 2018. 1. ["First Ladies who shunned the Limelight"](https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1302647/ladies-shunned-limelight). *New Vision*. Retrieved 19 January 2018. **Bibliography** - Gikandi, Simon (1998), ["African subjects and the colonial project"](https://archive.org/details/ugandaskatikiroi00muka), *Uganda's Katikiro in England*, Gikandi, Simon (ed.), Manchester University Press, ISBN 978-0-7190-5437-2 - Green, Jeffrey P. (1998), *Black Edwardians: Black people in Britain, 1901-1914*, illustrated/annotated ed., Taylor & Francis, ISBN 978-0-7146-4426-4 - Gikandi, Simon (2003), "Mukasa, Ham", *Encyclopedia of African Literature*, Taylor & Francis, pp. 347–348, ISBN 978-0-415-23019-3 - Pirouet, M. Louise & Harrison, B. (2004), ["Mukasa, Ham (c.1871–1956)"](http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101075913/), "Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, [doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/75913](https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/75913) ## External links - [The Ham Mukasa Foundation](https://web.archive.org/web/20090420003211/http://hammukasafoundation.com/) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ham Mukasa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham_Mukasa) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham_Mukasa?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.