Editing Protectorate of Uganda (section)

=== 1894–1901 ===
The [[Uganda Agreement of 1900]] solidified the power of the largely Protestant 'Bakungu' client-chiefs, led by Kagwa. London sent only a few officials to administer the country, relying primarily on the 'Bakungu' chiefs. For decades they were preferred because of their political skills, their Christianity, their friendly relations with the British, their ability to collect taxes, and the proximity of [[Entebbe]] (the Ugandan colonial capital) to the Buganda capital. By the 1920s, the British administrators were more confident and had less need for military or administrative support. Colonial officials taxed cash crops produced by the peasants. There was popular discontent among the [[Baganda]] rank-and-file, which weakened the position of their leaders. In 1912, Kagwa moved to solidify 'Bakungu' power by proposing a second 'Lukiko' for Buganda with himself as president and the 'Bakungu' as a sort of hereditary aristocracy. British officials vetoed the idea when they discovered widespread popular opposition. Instead, British officials began some reforms and attempted to make the 'Lukiko' a genuine representative assembly.<ref>Michael Twaddle, "The Bakungu chiefs of Buganda under British colonial rule, 1900–1930." ''Journal of African History'' 10#2 (1969): 309–322.</ref>

[[File:The White Elephant, Punch 103.png|thumb|''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'' cartoon depicting Uganda personified as a [[White elephant]] which the [[East Africa Company]] is attempting to sell to Britain (1892)]]

Although momentous change occurred during the colonial era in Uganda, some characteristics of late-nineteenth-century African society survived to reemerge at the time of independence. The status of [[Protectorate]] had significantly different consequences for Uganda than had the region been made a colony like neighbouring [[Kenya]], insofar as Uganda retained a degree of self-government that would have otherwise been limited under a full colonial administration.

Colonial rule, however, affected local economic systems dramatically, in part because the first concern of the British was financial. Quelling the 1897 sudanese mutiny (see [[Uganda before 1900]]) under the leadership of protectorate commissioner [[George Wilson (Chief Colonial Secretary of Uganda)|George Wilson CB]] had been costly—units of the [[British Indian Army]] had been transported to Uganda at considerable expense. The new commissioner of Uganda in 1900, [[Harry Johnston|Sir Harry H. Johnston]], had orders to establish an efficient administration and to levy taxes as quickly as possible. Johnston approached the chiefs in [[Uganda]] with offers of jobs in the colonial administration in return for their collaboration.

The chiefs were more interested in preserving Uganda as a self-governing entity, continuing the royal line of [[Kabaka of Buganda|Kabakas]], and securing private land tenure for themselves and their supporters. Hard bargaining ensued, but the chiefs ended up with everything they wanted, including one-half of all the land in Buganda. The half left to the British as "Crown Land" was later found to be largely swamp and scrub.

Johnston's [[Uganda Agreement of 1900]] imposed a tax on huts and guns, designated the chiefs as tax collectors, and testified to the continued alliance of British and Baganda interests. The British signed much less generous treaties with the other kingdoms ([[Toro (kingdom)|Toro]] in 1900, [[Ankole]] in 1901, and [[Bunyoro]] in 1933) without the provision of large-scale private land tenure. The smaller chiefdoms of [[Busoga]] were ignored.