Lukungu, Petero

[TESO,  Musoga]

Rev. Canon Petero Lukungu left his parents as a child to help his father’s blood brother with the cattle, and he eventually found himself looking after the herds of the young chief Nadiope who was then away at school. There he met Christians who encouraged him to read. For this he was severely beaten by his master, but his master’s mother nursed him until he recovered, and reproved his master, for to treat a blood brother’s child thus was contrary to all acceptable behavior, and many of the family were becoming Christians. Lukungu’s determination to read led him to find his way to the Rev. H. Mathers who found him lodging with a teacher called Zakaliya Kayeyera. Whilst still a catechumen in 1906 he accompanied Mathers on a safari through Bulamogi, his job being to carry the cinematograph. In April 1906 he was baptized, and in 1907 he was confirmed, and accompanied Mathers as a teacher when he went to open a mission at Kaliro. In 1911 just after his marriage he and his wife went to Kere in Kumam where Kazana was then saza chief. In 1913 he got his first letter and was then sent to Serere, but Kazana asked for him back again, and this was granted. In 1916 he got his second letter, and was then sent to Kalaki in Kumam. In 1919 he qualified as a lay-reader, and was put in charge of the church at Dokolo which he rebuilt in 1921. There he stayed for four years, having mastered the language, and he returned again in 1926 after being ordained deacon. Kalaki had by then been made a parish, and Lukungu worked under the Rev. Sedulaka Mugandawasura. After two years as a curate he was ordained priest in 1928 and he was sent as parish priest to Kitgum in northern Acoli. This was so remote that his wife could not face the thought of taking the children there to join him, and the pastoral safaris which he undertook in the course of his work were immense. In 1932 he was relocated to Soroti where his family were able to be with him, and here he remained until 1947. On his retirement he was presented with a Certificate of Honor from King George VI. He had also been made a Canon of the Upper Nile Diocese. He died in 1967 near Kaliro in Busoga.

Louise Pirouet**

Notes(short form; see List of Sources for complete citations):

Based on an interview conducted by the Rev. C. Bamwoze on June 16, 1966. See also Bishop and Ruffell, n.d., p. 24.

This biography, written by Louise Pirouet, was included in “Appendix A: Biographical Notes,” on pages 410-11 of “The Expansion of the Church of Uganda (N.A.C.) from Buganda into Northern and Western Uganda between 1891 and 1914, with Special Reference to the work of African Teachers and Evangelists” (PhD Thesis: University of East Africa, 1968). Pirouet published this thesis as Black Evangelists (London: Rex Collings, 1978). However, Black Evangelists does not reproduce the detailed biographies, complete with references to sources, found in Appendix A of the thesis. Print copies are available at Africana Section, Makerere University Library (U 02 P57); The Centre for Christianity Worldwide, Cambridge; and a microfilm copy at the School of Oriental Studies, London. [information from Angus Crichton]