Anglican Martyr Makko Kakumba Profile
It’s now exactly one month to the celebration of the Uganda Martyrs on 3rd June 2023. Martyrs represent firmness in faith in the face of adversity and we’ve been called to emulate them.
Hardly a year after Kabaka Mwanga assumed the throne in 1885, he ordered the execution of MAAKO KAKUMBA, a young page from the Ffumbe clan. Makko was one of the five pages given to the Church Missionary Society as a gift to be brought up under the leadership and safe custody of Alexander Mackay, a missionary.
Born in Buganda Kingdom, Makko had grown up serving the palace under King Muteesa I. Upon Muteesa’s death, he joined the missionaries and got baptized in the Protestant Church. On 30th January 1885, the young man, about 15 or 16 years old with two others, was arrested as they escorted Mackay and Ashe to Lake Victoria where the two missionaries intended to set off for Ssese islands for a retreat.
