Inside the Kabaka’s palaces where history comes to life

The road to it, locally known as Kabaka Anjagala (The king loves me), until recently, had old trees lined down both sides. Halfway between the palace and the administrative seat of Buganda Kingdom, is a round-about.
Danson Leonard Kasolo Serunyigo, an adviser in Buganda Kingdom’s heritage, royal tombs and tourism ministry, says it is the Kabaka’s road. “It is only the Kabaka who has right of way to drive through this round-about,” he adds.

The road is always under lock and under guard and when he is about to reach, the guard opens the gate for him to drive through and locks it up again.

Yudaya Nabatanzi, a guide at the royal palace in Bulange-Mengo, says it is because of this that the Kabaka gets the title ‘Lukoma nantawetwa’ (the Kabaka does not go around a round-about).

Incidentally, the Kabaka’s palace or Twekobe, as it is locally known, is opposite his administrative seat and Moses Batemyeto, an officer in the ministry of tourism, says its location was strategic. Twekobe gets its name from the efforts of different subjects who came together to build this palace.

In Luganda, Twekobe or okwekobana means uniting for a cause and this time, it was to build a palace for the king (Kabaka Mwanga). Not anyone is allowed in except visitors of the king or those who clean it. Up at the palace, you would be able to see the Kabaka Anjagala trees which dotted the road from the palace to the administrative office.

They are no more, but Nabatanzi explains how these candlenut trees came to be known by the local name Kabaka Anjagala. “During his reign, Maj Gen Sir Edward Frederick Muteesa II KBE gave seedlings to his visitors who would go back home and pride themselves for visiting the king, with proof of tree seedlings,” she says.

The locals would say “Kabaka anjagala, olaba y’ampade n’ensigo z’omuti?”, meaning “The Kabaka likes me, he even gave me tree seedlings”. That is how the trees, which Nabatanzi says were imported from India, got their Luganda name. The road is also known by the same name. There were some 56 trees which represented the clans in Buganda Kingdom. “There were originally 52 clans but Kabaka Mutebi added four by dividing the bigger ones,” she adds.

Today, the trees have been uprooted as road maintenance works continue. But the palace still stands. Just before the gate into the palace, is a fireplace whose fire, Batemyeto says, never goes off.

Fireplace
“It is locally referred to ekyoto ggombolola (traditional fireplace) which is lit by those from Nakisinge clan and the person who lights it is known by a title – Musoloza. He hails from the lineage of Kyeyune, the clan head of Nakisinge, who stays in Kyagwe,” he says.

When I ask him why this fire never goes out, Batemyeto says the fire symbolises that the Kabaka stays in the palace and is still on the throne. Nabatanzi adds that the fireplace is lit twice a day, at 5am and at 5pm.
“It is mainly lit by the mutuba tree from which bark cloth is made,” he says. “It will only go out when the Kabaka has passed on or no longer sits on the throne,” Batemyeto adds.

Tree logs lie outside the fireplace which is protected in a small a recently constructed iron sheet-roofed house, on the left-hand side of the gate to the palace.

Two men guard the palace and are always seated inside, waiting for visitors, mostly tourists who are welcome to learn and walk around the vast walled enclosure.

Batemyeto says this is the official residence for the ruling king in Buganda. Nabatanzi or any guide will lead you to the house on the left called Kabaka’s Collection which has photographs that profile Kabaka Ronald Mutebi’s life, from the time he was a child to date.

In there, he is seen with his father at a sports gala, Field Marshal Idi Amin Dada, a number of elders and on his coronation day, among other photographs. “Any guide would want you to come here because you are able to see photos of many Kabakas, the different leaders, the original photo of Kasubi Tombs before it was burnt, the Kabaka Njagala road and Kabaka Mutebi’s profile photos,” Nabatanzi says.

You will also be shown royal regalia and the caretaker will explain what each represents or when it is used. From this house’s doorsteps, you will see some of the military machinery used by fallen presidents Idi Amin and Milton Obote when they attacked the palace in 1966. Also in the compound, is a weather-beaten Rolls-Royce, one of Kabaka Muteesa’s prized possessions. Nabatanzi says he was the first Ugandan to drive the car.

The palace is a truly relaxing expanse, with fresh air that blows across the hill. But Kabaka Mutebi has chosen not to stay here much. “Many people were killed and blood spilled, and his father, Kabaka Muteesa, was attacked from here,” Nabatanzi and Batemyeto explain why the Kabaka prefers not to stay at the palace. Nevertheless, there is a lot of activity here and curtains of the main house are drawn and it is cleaned daily.

England model
As a tourist, you are allowed into the palace but not in the king’s main house. My guide tells me this palace was constructed just like Queen Elizabeth II’s palace in England. Only, it is smaller.

Nabatanzi shares about its history. “This palace was constructed by Ssekabaka (fallen king) Mwanga II in 1885. He found subjects of Nvubu clan who were grinding their millet flour. One grinding stone is called Obubengo and many are called Mengo. This hill overlooks Mpala hill, which is now Kampala,” Nabatanzi says.

She says the palace covers some four square kilometres of land. There are four gates at different points of the palace. In between the gates, are banana plantations. The gates have names too.

“One is called wankaki which is the main gate, kalaala where one of the Kabaka’s wives passes, another gate called Nnalongo (mother of twins) who performs some norms in the palace and Ssabagabo or Wansaso which is the Kabaka’s private gate,” the guide adds. Batemyeto says Kabaka Muteesa always used the Wansaso to catch up with friends, mostly at White Nile Bar.

There are a number of houses in the palace which are occupied by guards and other locals. They look shabby because they have not been well-maintained.

Batemyeto says the houses used to be occupied by people who headed different ministries in the kingdom. Further down is the dungeon with a clear walk way. “It was constructed in 1971 under Amin’s government. He was helped by Israelites,” Nabatanzi adds. It is grim and dark just like the stories it is associated with. Many people lost their lives in cold blood under these walls.

There are five dingy rooms in which alliances of Kabaka Muteesa and anti-Amin supporters were murdered and abandoned. Nabatanzi says people were blind-folded and driven around ring road, and around the palace, before they were taken down and into the rooms. “Each room is small but some 500 people were squeezed in each of them and people were suffocated or electrocuted.

Until 2009, we had the skulls and bones of those killed were still here, but because children visit this place we removed them. It is estimated that about 200,000 people lost their lives here,” the guide says as she takes me around. When I am finally done with my tour, I am left with pictures of a beautiful palace.

Other Buganda palaces at a glance

While the palace at Mengo still holds a bit of history, and an air of royalty, the other palaces leave a lot to desire. During my visit to the Kabaka’s palace in Bamunanika, the caretakers get jittery when they learn that I am a journalist. “Please do not take photographs of this palace. We shall be scolded,” one of the caretakers tells me.

Kasolo with whom I travel joins in the pleading. There are unfinished and unroofed structures. Kasolo tells me this was Kabaka Muteesa’s country palace, in a peaceful corner of Luwero District. “This palace was built by Ssekabaka Mutesa in 1948. In fact, he had his honeymoon here,” the elderly adviser says.

The palace is located in Mituba-Musanvu in Bamunanika. “It sits on 40 acres of land. It is one of the big private palaces. That is why Kabaka Mutebi came here after burying his father,” he adds. The Kabaka has more private palaces like the one in Banda where he also resides.

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