Kingdoms are often the pride of people in any given country, even though in a republic like Uganda, a king doesn’t have political power, he remains an influential figure and a force to be reckoned with. Buganda kingdom being the biggest kingdom in Uganda and the biggest occupant of the central region for the last 700 years, many tourism centers have a background attached to Buganda kingdom in one way or the other including Uganda’s capital Kampala.
Below are some of the tourist attractions that are found with in Buganda kingdom;
The Royal Mile
The royal mile, mainly comprises of the Lubiri “palace” and the Bulange parliament all located in Mengo. These two have magnificent architectural designs that please all the tourists who take a glance on them as they walk the royal mile learning about the unique Buganda culture
A few kilometers from Mengo town, lies the largest manmade lake in Uganda which was created during the reign of the late king of Buganda Kabaka Mwanga II. This Lake is locally known as “akayanja ka kabaka” directly translated as Kabaka’s Lake. The lake is surrounded by various hills such as Rubaga, Namirembe and Old Kampala. It is a home to several bird species in the heart of the city of Kampala. To anyone interested in bird watching, a pair of binoculars and a camera with good lenses would do more so early in the morning before human activities disrupt the flow of nature.
Namugongo Martyrs Shrine
In the spirit of Buganda and the reign of Kabaka Mwanga II, was birthed one of the most outstanding tourism attractions in Buganda kingdom located in Wakiso district. After Christianity invading Buganda kingdom in the late 1800s in form of Catholicism and Protestantism; Anglican in particular, a sit down rebellion was launched against the king when his servants started disobeying his commands in regard to their allegiance to the Christian faith. The king ordered that they should be burnt alive unless they revoke their allegiance to the Christian faith. Many of them were burnt alive and in their commemoration, every 3rd June, pilgrims flock Namugongo from Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda, and from different parts of the world. Namugongo is gifted with storytelling monuments that will give you a glimpse into the story of the Uganda Martyrs any time of the year
Buganda Tombs
There are also various tombs found in Buganda kingdom. In Buganda, tombs are burial grounds for the fallen kings. These include: Kasubi, Wamala, Walusi, just to mention but a few. Kasubi, which is the main tomb is located on Kasubi hill where four kings of Buganda were buried. The tombs were constructed using local materials; grass, poles and wattle. They have great historical cultural and spiritual importance to the Baganda because all the remains of their kings are laid there. It is an outstanding tourist attraction because it will give a detailed history about the fallen kings and Buganda as a kingdom.
Kabaka Palace
The Kabaka’s Lake is not only Uganda’s largest but Africa’s largest man made lake in Uganda. It is located in Ndeeba, Lubaga Division, Kampala City. This lake was dug in 1880s during the reign of Kabaka Mwanga II. The Kabaka loved hunting and boat cruising so much that he ordered the Baganda to dig a lake to connect his palace in Mengo to Lake Victoria in Munyonyo.
For more than 3 years the Baganda dug this lake using hand hoes including the Kabaka himself. However his project did not come to success after religious wars started threatening his kingdom and in the end he was exiled by the British to the Seychelles Island. The Kabaka’s lake remains today as the largest man-made lake in Africa and the Buganda Kingdom is developing the site into a great tourism site.