Kabaka’s Palace i.e. ‘’king’s palace’’ in the local name Twekobe which means working together, is one of the most famous sites in the history of Buganda. It happens to be the royal home of the kabaka i.e. king of Buganda. It is positioned in Mengo a suburb of Kampala City Uganda’s largest capital city. The palace is found in mengo and it has been in existence since 1885 founded by King Daniel Mwanga 11 who succeeded his father King Muteesa 1 in 1884.

Kabaka's Place

However, it is called Twekobe which means working together and it was a union of the 52 clans making up Buganda kingdom by then. The Twekobe was built in 1922 during the reign of king Daudi Chwa who succeeded his father king Daniel Mwanga 11 in 1887 when he was exiled to Seychelles island. He left behind the throne without a king ruling it and by that time the king was making one-year-old. He was helped by the three legends who were Mugwanya Stanchions, Sir Apollo Kagwa, and Zakaria Kisingiri until he was 18 years of age, making up 18 years he was old enough to rule the kingdom by his own.

The official residence of the Kabaka’s Palace has four main gates and each gate has its own purpose or meaning namely the first gate is called Wankaci which is the main gate to the king, Queen and the prime minister ‘’called “Katikiro of Buganda”. These are the only respective people who are supposed to go through it and the other one is Kalala next to Wankaci, around Kalala it is where the king is expected to marry a very beautiful woman and he could expect to find her at Kalala, The third gate is “Nalongo gate” and this where the king’s gifts are brought in from and it was called Nalongo gate because the gate was a mother of twins who is ‘’Nalongo’’ in local language and the fourth one is called Ssabagabo gate. The kabaka uses this gate to go through for only personal issues where he uses normal cars in secret way and no one should know that the king is moving out.

Amazingly the road connecting the two palaces Twekobe and Bulange are found in mengo, and they have two roundabouts. On the route that leads through Bulange, there is a middle running pass at the main roundabout where there is lukiko. The pass which is found in the middle of the roundabout it has the local name called Natawetwa and it’s only the king ‘’kabaka’’ as a person who is supposed to pass through in the straight line to Twekobe. To note, the king was helped by his men to dig the place from lukiko building called Bulange and they grew up 56 trees on the side of the palace since it has large land, and each tree represented a Buganda clan and the 154 trees found inside Twekobe, each tree has its meaning.

To note, kabaka’s palace which is located on top of mengo hill has got very many selling points inside such as the fire place at the entrance which keeps burning day and night and above all the torture chamber where Idi Amin tortured thousands of people till death.

Kabaka's Place
Entrance to the Amin’s torture chambers in the Kabaka’s Place

Interestingly, the Twekobe has got the main gate called Wankaci and on the left-hand side has you entering the palace, it has the fire place in local name is called ‘’Ekyooto’’ which keeps burning day and night and the person who is responsible of it must be coming in the lineage of ‘’Nyonyi Nakisinge’’ meaning a bird.

The Twekobe ‘’king palace’’ has acted as a tourist attraction to people around and within the area. Many tourists enjoy the Kampala city tour as they are most likely to engage in visiting the kabaka’s palace basically the Idi Amin’s Torture chamber.

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