According to the official biography of this martyr, Denis Sebuggwawo was a diligent seeker of religious instruction, which instruction he always got from Joseph Mukasa Balikuddembe. Under the Mukasa’s influence Ssebuggwawo and his brother Isaac Kajane became keen Catholic catechumens. They were so devoted to their newly found faith that they always took each and every opportunity to spread the new faith to their companions at court.

Uganda Martyr Dennis Ssebugwawo

No wonder that on one occasion Kajane even attempted to convert the king. The execution of Ssebuggwawo’s mentor Joseph Mukasa in November 1885 provoked Ssebuggwawo to become more passionate for his faith. On the night of November 16, 1885, the day after Joseph’s martyrdom and the king’s threat to kill all the Christian pages, Ssebuggwawo was baptized with the name of Denis, patron of France.

Denis Ssebuggwawo was born at Kigoloba in Bulemezi County, in the Kingdom of Buganda. His mother, Nsonga, was a Musoga. She had been carried off as a child by Nkalubo Ssebuggwawo of the Cane Rat (Musu) Clan, who gave her to his son Kajansi. Nsonga bore him nine children, including three sets of twins. Denis Ssebuggwawo Wasswa and Isaac Kajane Kato were the first of the pairs. The twins grew up in Busiro county until they were presented at court, to Mutesa’s successor by their fellow clansman, the chancellor (katikiro) Mukasa, in 1884. The chancellor presented his own sons, Mwafu and Kasamitala, at the same time. These four boys all became royal pages in the private apartments of the young king, Mwanga.

On one fateful afternoon of May 25, 1886, Mwanga returned from his hippopotamus hunting expedition at Munyonyo. They had seen no hippos, but had shot a few birds, which left the king in a terrible mood. From the boys’ answers it transpired that Ssebuggwawo had been with Mwafu and had been giving him religious instruction, and that Mwafu hoped to become a Christian like Ssebuggwawo.

Furious that the affections of his favourite page were being alienated by the Christian teaching he had forbidden in his palace, Mwanga beat Ssebuggwawo repeatedly with the spear he had in his hand, until the spear broke, wounding him on the head, neck and back. He then seized the lad by the arm and dragged him into the court of the audience hall, shouting for men to come and kill him.

See more on Uganda Martyrs Wikipedia

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