| About Hamu Mukasa |
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Hamu Lujonza Kaddu Mukasa was born in 1871 to Zakaria Mukabugo Kiwanuka and Leya Nakazana Mukasa during the reign of King Mutesa I. His father was a chief in the Buganda Kingdom. Mukasa was sent to Mutesa's court in 1882 to care for the sick king. During his stay at the king's court, Mukasa was introduced first to Islam and then to Christianity. As a page in the king's court, Mukasa attended reading classes at the Anglican mission. He proved to be very keen at reading. Throughout his life Mukasa had a great interest in three things: Christianity, writing, and reading.
Mukasa joined the lay readers' class at Namirembe and, after graduation, he worked at Namirembe Cathedral as a catechist and evangelist. His prominence as an evangelist was not only limited to Namirembe. He preached the gospel in Uganda and beyond, traveling to such places as Sudan, Kenya, and Congo. As a result of their good relationship, Mukasa was given the opportunity to accompany Prime Minister Apollo Kagwa on his visit to England in 1902, having been appointed Kagwa's secretary by the Buganda Council. He recorded all the events of the trip in his diary and, after his return, published a book entitled The Katikiro's Visit to England. Mukasa's visit to England deepened his understanding of Christianity and of the activities of the church.
Mukasa was very instrumental in the establishment of Bishop Tucker Theological College, now the Uganda Christian University, Mukono. He never attended any theological college but he loved to have a trained pastor in his home parish. In 1894 a church training program was started at Namirembe but, as Mukasa and Bishop Alfred Robert Tucker were not happy with its location, Mukasa convinced the church council to transfer the program to Mukonov - far from Kampala - and promised to give the college a piece of land. Today, that land is home to the Uganda Christian University. Mukasa believed in the principal of self-reliance and always supported his subjects in church building projects by offering help in the form of money or land. Mukasa came up with the idea of involving all Christians, without discrimination, in these building projects.
Source: Christopher Byaruhanga, http://www.dacb.org/stories/uganda/mukasa_hamu.html |
The new Hamu Mukasa Library is named after the man who gave land for the establishment of a college in 1905. The Bishop Tucker Theological College was then started in 1913 and became the Uganda Christian University in 1997.
He learned to speak and write English on his own. He bought any book he found, eventually acquiring two big libraries, one at Namirembe and the other at Nasuti, in the present day Mukono district. One of the books in his library was Ennyonnyola ye Matayo (Gospel Commentary on Matthew) which he wrote in Luganda, his native language. 
Mukasa was a great promoter of formal education in Uganda. He used his influence as a chief to allocate land to mission schools and supported the building of many schools. Of particular importance was Bishops' School, which was dedicated to the sons of chiefs. Whenever Mukasa had the opportunity to speak to the parents of school-age children, he would ask them to contribute generously to the building of schools to ensure a bright future for Uganda.
In 1931, Mukasa retired from his position in the king's government. By this time he was a very rich man and owned about one hundred square miles of land. He used the revenue from this land to support the church, schools, and the needy. He died on February 29, 1956 and was buried in Namirembe Cathedral cemetery. 