Buganda

Buganda is a traditional kingdom in present-day Uganda, inhabited by the Baganda people. Its historic heart lies in the central region around Lake Victoria, with Kampala located within its traditional area. The Luganda language is widely spoken and serves as a lingua franca in central Uganda. The kingdom is governed by a hereditary monarch, the Kabaka, whose ceremonial duties center on culture, heritage, and traditional law. The royal seat is at Mengo, near Kampala, and the Kasubi Tombs are royal burial grounds.

Buganda traces its origins to medieval polities that consolidated under a Kabaka during the 14th–15th centuries, forming a centralized administration with a network of chiefs and clans. In the 19th century it emerged as a regional power in what is now Uganda, engaging with Arab traders and, later, European colonial powers. The 1900 Buganda Agreement defined the kingdom’s status within the British Protectorate and its land tenure system. After independence in 1962, Uganda’s political development led to the suspension of kingdoms in 1967; they were restored in a limited form by the 1995 constitution, with cultural authority preserved.

Today the Kabaka’s role is largely ceremonial, while the Lukiiko acts as a traditional parliament advising on cultural matters. The Buganda Kingdom promotes language, education, and cultural heritage, and maintains institutions such as the Kasubi Tombs, a UNESCO World Heritage site that suffered significant damage in a 2010 fire. The Baganda constitute one of Uganda’s largest ethnic groups, primarily in the central region, with the economy centered on agriculture, including bananas (matooke), coffee, and fishing from Lake Victoria.