Old money still reigns in families of Buganda''s chiefs

Mengo, Namirembe and Old Kampala are not just your ordinary hills in Buganda. They were homes to wealthy aristocratic families in the kingdom.

Buganda’s wealthy were scattered all over the place - from Kawempe to Kibuli. Last week, Saturday Vision looked at the craddle of wealth of the Nsibambis, the Ham Mukasas, the Nagendas and the Appollo Kaggwas.

Others were Nelson Edmond Nkalubo Sebugwawo, the Walusimbi Mpangas, the Muliras, the Kulubyas and the Stanislaus Mugwanya family.

In a continuation of the story, Stephen Ssenkaaba profiles more of Buganda’s old money patriarchies and their generations.

CHRISTOPHER KISOSONKOLE

Kisosonkole was one of the two sons of Sekuuma, a wealthy landowner and prominent chief in Buganda. Kisosonkole and his brother, who went by the same name, inherited their father’s land and wealth, but it is Christopher who is better known.

Kisonsokole o ered the land where the martyrs’ shrine stands in Namugongo

Kisosonkole was the husband of Pumla, a South African social worker, who later served in the Legislative Council. He was also the father of Damalie and Sarah Kisosonkole. DAmalie married Kabaka Muteesa II while Sarah is the mother of Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi. Kisosonkole owned huge chunks of land and property, including a house in Banda that has since become Kabaka Mutebi’s palace.

According to Kasolo Serunyiigo, the cultural advisor to the Kabaka of Buganda, a huge chunk of land in Namugongo, including the site of the martyrs’ shrine, belonged to Kisosonkole. He offered the Namugongo land to the church. His official residence was in Mengo, where some of his descendants live today.

ERNEST MICHAEL KAWALYA KAGGWA

Ernest Michael Kawalya Kaggwa was one of the many children of Sir Apollo Kaggwa. Educated at King’s College’ Budo and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Kaggwa was a commissioned second lieutenant in the Kings’ African Rifl es, a chief and later a Buganda prime minister, from 1945 to 1950.

During his tenure as premier, he requested the Colonial government to introduce hydroelectric power, piped water and postal services to Uganda.

He had chunks of land and sprawling farmland in Kisowera, Mukono district. Elderly sources remember him as a welldressed, quiet and aloof gentleman.

His wife, Catherine Nanjobe, was the daughter of Ham Mukasa and the first woman to acquire a driving permit. They had six children, including Michael Kaggwa, a judge and wealthy businessman, who was murdered and burnt in his car during president Idi Amin’s reign.

His land in Lungujja Kikandwa, on a steep slope that connects Wakaliga Road to Mengo town, has a residential house and a new structure that will house the Kabaka Mutesa I, Sir Apollo Kaggwa and Ernest Michael Kaggwa memorial foundation.

APOLLO KIRONDE

Apollo Kironde was one of the many grandchildren of Sir Apollo Kaggwa. His father, Asanasio Senteza, was the first child of the renowned prime minister.

Educated at King’s College, Budo, Fort Hare University in South Africa and later called to the bar in Britain, Kironde was one of Buganda’s most polished gentlemen.

Apollo Kironde’s home in Mengo. He used wood to nish much of the interior 

He was an accomplished teacher, musician, carpenter, lawyer and diplomat. He was also Uganda’s first ambassador to the United Nations. He served as a minister of tourism, as well as that for planning and economic development during Amin’s regime.

Kironde was a wealthy man. He owned a jaggery farm in Kasangombe and a dairy farm in Nakaseke, which he obtained during Amin’s reign. He also once owned Action Motors, a lucrative car dealing business that once owned the Mercedes Benz franchise in Uganda.

According to close family sources, Kironde was one of the only three in Uganda who owned a Rolls Royce; the others were Sir Edward Mutesa II and Governor Andrew Cohen.

Kironde had 15 children, the most prominent of whom is Kaddu Mukasa Kironde, the food critic. His official residence is in Mengo, but he also has a house in London.

THE KIZITO KISINGIRIS

Kizito Kisingiri, one of the richest men in Buganda, was the son of Zakaria Kizito Kisingiri, one of Sekabaka Daudi Chwa II’s regents.

Zakaria owned considerable amounts of property, acquired from the 1900 Agreement, in which he participated. He owned much of the land in Bombo, including where the barracks is located. Some people say much of the land on which Mengo town now sits also belonged to Zakaria. Kisingiri’s house magnificently straddles Kabaka Njagala Road. The concrete house, roofed with rusty corrugated iron sheets, is said to have over 50 rooms.

Kisingiri’s house in Mengo is said to have over 50 rooms. 

It has now been turned into a school and is home to old tortoises. Residents refer to the home as Ku Nfudu (home of the tortoise). Unlike many of his contemporaries, Kisingiri did not have many children.

NUHU MBOGO

Nuhu Mbogo was a Buganda royal, a son of Ssekabaka Suuna Kalema II and was one of the wealthiest men in the land.

Once presented by Muslims as a candidate for Kabakaship, Mbogo was sent into exile in Zanzibar by the colonial government, to thwart the possibility of the ascension of a Muslim to the throne.

In 1893, he requested and was allowed to return home on condition that he denounced his ambitions to rule. As part of a compensation plan, the colonial government offered him an annual allowance of 250 pounds (until his death), a house in Kibuli and 24 sq. miles of land.

He was, for a long time, considered the most infl uential Muslim in Buganda. He owned chunks of land in Kibuli, Kawempe, Nabisunsa and many other parts of Kampala, which he bequeathed to his son, Prince Badru Kakungulu. In Kawempe, the area called Mbogo was named after him.

Kakungulu donated land to Kibuli Mosque.

Kakungulu propagated his father’s wealth and not only built schools and Islamic institutions on his father’s land, but also offered it for a number of development projects.

The over 80 acres on which Kibuli Mosque sits today was a donation by Kakungulu. It is Kakungulu who established Nabisunsa Girls School, Kasawo Teachers’ Training College and other institutions.

Kakungulu had many children, but the most notable ones are princes Kassim Nakibinge and Kaliphan Nakibinge. Mbogo’s descendants are believed to be among the wealthiest old money families in Kampala.

THE NSIBIRWAS

Martin Luther Nsibirwa, the family patriarch, was one of the most notable people in Buganda; perhaps one of the very few people to serve as Katikkiro (prime minister) for two terms.

Nsibirwa was Katikkiro of Buganda from 1929 to 1943. Two years later, he was requested to return and serve in the same position.

However, he only served for a few months, as he was assasinated in July that year. Nsibirwa owned huge chunks of land in Bugerere, Buyaga, Buwekula, Singo and Nakifuma.

As the Katikkiro, he built Butikkiro, the official residence of Buganda’s prime ministers, currently housing the offices of the Joint Clinical Research Centre in Mengo.

The Joint Clinical Research Centre in Mengo. This was the official residence of the Katikkiro

It also served as his official residence during his two terms as the Katikkiro. He had another home in Nakulabye, which he later bequeathed to one of  his sons, Alistairiko Kiwana.

According to close family members, Nsibirwa had many wives and 24 children. And because he took them to the best schools, his children turned into responsible and high profile citizens.

They include: Alistairiko Kiwana, an engineer and senior civil servant until his death in 1973, Rhoda Kalema, an activist and senior citizen and Gladys Wambuzi, the founder and proprietor of  Greenhill Academy.

Others are Dr. Semu Nsibirwa, Janet Mudowe and the late Dr. Rose Kigonya. The Nsibirwa grandchildren include finance minister Maria Kiwanuka (Kiwana’s daughter), Dr. William Kalema, Gladys Kalema and Vision Group’s Susan Nsibirwa, among others.