The Archive of a Ugandan Missionary

Abstract

This collection of sources offer a rare insight into the everyday concerns of African Christian converts. They centre on a well-documented figure, the Revd Apolo Kivebulaya (c.1865 -1933). Kivebulaya was a teacher and clergyman in the Native Anglican Church of Uganda. His writing offers insight into a literate Christian identity formed away from centres of power. Oral and written accounts about Kivebulaya illustrate how African admirers responded to him and how their societies were influenced by Christianity. Kivebulaya’s diaries, notebooks, correspondence, reports and autobiography show his missionary work in western Uganda and eastern Congo. Kivebulaya was not a man of letters. He was a clerk in holy orders, keeping the books, noting life’s activities, listing his journeys, acquaintances and biblical texts for sermons. His diaries show him making a path for Christian advancement beyond the metropole. The value of his writings is recognized by scholars examining early Islam in Buganda, politics and witchcraft in Toro and dissent in East Africa. This collection includes short biographies of Kivebulaya originally written in Luganda and Runyoro-Rutoro and texts of interviews conducted in the 1950s with his followers in Congo. The interviews contrast with published biographies by portraying Kivebulaya as a spiritual expert able to slay kings, bring rain and heal the sick. The sources are supported by essays on their context, a comprehensive introduction to each section and thorough annotation.