Did you know that the first foreigners to arrive in Uganda were Arabs?

INDEPENDENCE HISTORY

The first foreigners to arrive in Uganda were Arab traders in 1845. In 1862, John Hannington Speke arrived in Buganda, followed by Grant in 1865 and, later, Henry Morton Stanley.

By 1867, Islam had been established in Buganda, having been introduced by Arabs during the reign of Kabaka Ssuna II.

It is recorded that Mutesa I was already observing the Muslim holy month of Ramadhan and had learned to read the Qu'ran.

He also exchanged gifts with parts of the Islamic world, like Zanzibar, but never converted fully to Islam.

In June 1877, the Church Missionary Society arrived in Buganda from England, led by Shergold Smith and the Rev. CT Wilson. Two years later, in February 1879, another batch of preachers arrived. These were the Roman Catholic White Fathers - Father Lourdel and Brother Amans.

Fathers Barbot, Girault and Livinhac reinforced them in June the same year. Thus, in Buganda, within a period of two years, there were two different groups, both teaching Christianity.