Kadoko, Alexander

Anglican Martyr of the Buganda Kingdom

Kadoko Alexander was one of the earliest Anglican converts in Buganda to suffer execution for his faith during the persecution of Christians under the reign of Ssekabaka (deceased king) Mwanga II in the nineteenth century. Missionary records note that he was killed on June 5, 1886. [1]

Robert P. Ashe, a Church Missionary Society (CMS) English missionary in Uganda at the time, documented Kadoko’s death in a letter titled A Brief Notice of Those Who Have Been Killed in Buganda for the Testimony of Jesus, published in the December 1886 issue of Church Missionary Gleaner. He states that he was arrested for admitting to royal authority that he was a Christian.

Kadoko belonged to the Ndiga (sheep) clan in Buganda’s clan system, which explains the origin of his surname. He was baptized an Anglican Christian in July 1883, shortly after Ashe’s arrival at the CMS mission station at Nateete, in present-day Kampala on May 2, 1883. [2] This makes him one of the earliest Christians in Uganda, as the first converts were baptized on March 18, 1882.

Upon conversion, he adopted the name Alexander, likely taken from Alexander Murdoch Mackay, the de facto head of the CMS mission in Uganda. In CMS archives, the name also appears as Aligizanda, Alexandra, and Alexandro. These variations reflect the adaptation of Christian names into Luganda phonetics, a common feature of early conversion. [3]

A grandson of the renowned Ganda warrior Namunjulirwa, Kadoko emerged from a prominent lineage and was raised within the royal court. Like many young Baganda men of status, he served as a page under Kabaka Muteesa I, a role that prepared him for future leadership. He was later appointed Nanfumbambi, the head of the servants of the Ssekiboobo (county chief of Kyaggwe). This office placed him in close proximity to the structures of power within the kingdom. The distinctive requirement in Buganda that the Nanfumbambi wear ankle bells—intended to prevent covert movement within the court—underscores both the intimacy and the surveillance associated with royal service.

Ashe described him as a man of influence and responsibility but one whose service as Nanfumbambi required long absences from the CMS mission station at Nateete, Kampala. This led some later commentators, such as the historian and church administrator John V. Taylor in his book, The Growth of the Church in Uganda, to label him an “inconsistent Christian,” a characterization that likely stemmed from his inability to participate fully in mission activities rather than a deficiency in his faith. Once baptized, missionaries expected converts to demonstrate a commitment to participate in the spread of Christianity in the region. This may not have been the case with him.

The political environment shifted dramatically following the death of Muteesa in October 1884. His successor, Mwanga II, initially adopted a cautious approach toward foreign religions, even allowing the return of Roman Catholic missionaries who had departed in 1882. However, his stance soon hardened as he came to view Christian converts—particularly those within the court—as a threat to royal authority. In this sense, conversion increasingly signaled an alternative locus of loyalty that challenged the centralized power of the kabaka.

Within this context, Kadoko’s position became precarious. Around 1885, he was stripped of his office as Nanfumbambi and publicly flogged on the orders of the Katikkiro (prime minister) Mukasa, reportedly for spreading rumors that the kabaka intended to kill missionaries and their followers. Although both Mwanga and Mukasa later denied these accusations, the episode reflects the growing suspicion directed toward Christian converts at court.

Kadoko was subsequently appointed Omutebi, a position overseeing the locality of Kitebi. In this role, the convert lived among other prominent Christians, including Sserunkuma Bruno, who also became a Roman Catholic martyr during the same period and possibly a relative, as both were members of the Ndiga clan. His home is reported to have been a center of Christian community life—a place where fellow Christians sought counsel and refuge as the persecution of Christians intensified toward the end of 1885. But despite the growing danger, he remained steadfast in his faith and refused to flee throughout the early executions that claimed the lives of figures such as Rugalama Joseph and Kakumba Mark.

Kadoko’s martyrdom occurred against the backdrop of escalating violence against Christians in 1886. On the day he went to visit fellow converts who had been detained on the orders of Mwanga, he openly identified himself as a Christian to a Mumbowa, or royal guard, thereby sealing his fate. Some accounts suggest the martyr may have been intoxicated when he made this declaration, as he was carrying a gourd of tonto (banana cider). “I am a Christian,” he reportedly said, for which he was swiftly arrested and placed in the stocks before being put to death by burning. [4]

The executions of Kadoko and other Christians in Buganda formed part of a wider crisis in the kingdom, one in which the supreme authority of the kabaka was, for the first time in its history, openly contested as new converts began to look toward an alternative—albeit religious—source of power. This led to waves of executions, which continued through 1886 and 1887, eventually culminating in the dethronement of the kabaka by Christians and Muslims in 1888. Although he later regained the throne with the support of Christian factions and missionaries, the political and religious landscape of Buganda had been fundamentally transformed.

Kadoko Alexander is remembered not only as an early Anglican martyr but as a figure whose life illuminates the tensions between court service, religious conversion, and political transformation in late nineteenth-century Buganda. His courage played a pivotal role in establishing Anglicanism in Uganda (and the East African region), which has since grown to become one of the largest Anglican provinces in Africa. [5]

Kimeze Teketwe

Notes:

1. See John Francis Faupel, who lists the date as June 3; despite this variation, both his account and that of Robert P. Ashe agree that Kadoko was executed for openly professing his Christian faith.
2. The Church Missionary Intelligencer and Record, vol. 11. London: Church Missionary Society, 1886. Available through Adam Matthew, Marlborough, Church Missionary Society Periodicals, p. 884.
3. Baganda are the people from Buganda; their language is called Luganda. Ganda can also refer to the people and their culture.
4. The Church Missionary Intelligencer and Record, vol. 11, 1886, p. 884.
5. Andrew McKinnon, “Demography of Anglicans in Sub-Saharan Africa: Estimating the Population of Anglicans in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda,” Journal of Anglican Studies 18, no. 1 (2020): 42–60.

Sources:

Ashe, Robert P. Two Kings of Uganda. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1890.

Church Missionary Society Periodicals – Adam Matthew Digital. Accessed May 28, 2023. (https://www.churchmissionarysociety.amdigital.co.uk/)[https://www.churchmissionarysociety.amdigital.co.uk/].

Faupel, John Francis. African Holocaust. New York: P. J. Kenedy, 1962.

Padwick, Constance E. Mackay of the Great Lake. London: H. Milford, 1918.

Mullins, Joseph Dennis, and Ham Mukasa. The Wonderful Story of Uganda. London: Church Missionary Society, 1904.

Stock, Eugene. The History of the Church Missionary Society. Vol. 3 of 4 vols. London: Church Missionary Society, 1899.

Stock, Sarah Geraldina. The Story of Uganda and the Victoria Nyanza Mission. London: Religious Tract Society, 1892.

Taylor, John Vernon. The Growth of the Church in Buganda: An Attempt at Understanding. London: T. & A. Constable Ltd., 1958.

Tucker, Alfred R. Eighteen Years in Uganda and East Africa. London: Edward Arnold, 1908.

This biography, submitted on March 22, 2026, was researched and written by Kimeze Teketwe, an international education professional and historian of early colonial East Africa. Teketwe holds graduate degrees in international educational development and global leadership from the University of Pennsylvania and Fuller Theological Seminary, respectively.