Written By | Evan Sande Ndahura
Evan Sande Ndahura is a Ugandan writer, poet, and public affairs commentator whose work examines governance, heritage, urban development, and African political economy
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At the heart of Kampala lie two of Buganda’s most sacred and strategic assets: the Lubiri (Mengo Palace grounds) and the Kasubi Royal Tombs. These sites are not only symbols of kingship, continuity, and identity, but they also sit on some of the most valuable urban land in Uganda’s capital. Yet surrounding both are long perimeter walls—protective and symbolic, but economically dormant.
This reality invites a respectful but necessary question: What if Buganda had deliberately transformed the surroundings of these cultural sites into structured, kingdom-owned commercial zones—without touching the sanctity of the cores themselves? How much would the Kingdom have harvested by now?
This is not a call to commercialise culture. It is a call to strategically protect culture through sustainable economic power.
Strategic Geography: The Advantage Buganda Already Has
Lubiri and Kasubi are located in zones that urban planners describe as prime centrality. They lie close to major transport corridors, dense populations, government offices, and commercial districts. Very few traditional institutions in Africa possess cultural land positioned so advantageously within a capital city.
Around the world, heritage sites thrive not in isolation but within planned economic ecosystems. The error is not in preserving culture; it is in failing to allow culture to finance its own preservation.
Perimeter walls do not generate income. Carefully designed commercial belts do.
The Kasubi Fire and the Missed Economic Lesson
When the Kasubi Tombs were tragically destroyed by fire, the Kingdom turned to its people and well-wishers through the Etofali fundraising campaign. The generosity was real. The solidarity was historic. Yet the lesson remains unresolved. Had Buganda invested decades earlier in income-generating infrastructure around Kasubi, the Kingdom would not have struggled to raise reconstruction funds. A self-sustaining heritage economy would have:
Heritage that depends solely on goodwill is vulnerable. Heritage supported by enterprise is resilient.
The Kampala Paradox: Wealth Built in the Wrong Places
Kampala today is full of Baganda-owned enterprises—hotels, arcades, warehouses, transport businesses—many of them built in ecologically fragile zones such as Kisenyi, historically a swamp and a drainage corridor.
Recent floods have reminded the city of a timeless truth: nature cannot be cheated forever. Businesses collapse, capital is lost, and livelihoods are destroyed.
Ironically, while entrepreneurs battle KCCA regulations and environmental forces in unsuitable areas, prime kingdom land remains underutilised behind walls.
If even a fraction of Baganda entrepreneurial energy had been redirected toward planned, elevated, and serviced commercial developments around Lubiri and Kasubi, Kampala’s drainage crisis and congestion in Kisenyi could be significantly eased.
A Respectful Model: Culture at the Core, Commerce at the Ring
A viable model does not touch the sacred heart of Kasubi or the royal sanctity of Lubiri. Instead, it establishes a controlled development ring:
Such a model would generate:
Advantages to the Kingdom
Financial Independence
Buganda would finance its cultural, educational, and social programmes without perpetual fundraising.
Urban Leadership
The Kingdom would set a model of heritage-led development rather than heritage-frozen stagnation.
Tax Base Expansion
Formal commercial hubs increase both local and national tax contributions, strengthening relations between the Kingdom and the state.
Environmental Protection
Redirecting investment away from wetlands preserves Kampala’s drainage systems and reduces flooding.
Cultural Security
With reliable income, cultural sites can be discreetly modernised for safety without compromising identity.
Possible Risks and Necessary Safeguards
Respect must remain paramount. Poorly managed commercialisation risks cultural dilution, political misunderstanding, and public backlash.
Therefore, any such plan would require:
Development must serve culture, not replace it.
A Word to Buganda’s Leadership
Buganda’s leadership structure remains one of Africa’s most sophisticated traditional systems. However, modern stewardship requires modern economic imagination.
Land at the heart of a capital city is not ordinary land. Leaving it economically dormant while the Kingdom struggles financially is not cultural purity; it is strategic neglect.
Buganda does not need to abandon tradition to prosper. It needs to allow tradition to intelligently fund itself.
As African economist George Ayittey warned, “Africa is not poor; it is poorly managed.” Buganda is not weak; it is under-harvesting its strategic assets.
Conclusion: Heritage That Feeds the Future
Lubiri and Kasubi are not merely monuments of the past; they are pillars of the future. Surrounded by thoughtful enterprise, they can anchor a Buganda that is culturally proud, economically powerful, and environmentally responsible. The question is no longer whether this is possible.
The question is whether Buganda will choose preservation alone—or preservation with prosperity.
About the Writer
Evan Sande Ndahura is a Ugandan writer, poet, and public affairs commentator whose work examines governance, heritage, urban development, and African political economy. Through widely circulated newspaper-style articles and Pan-African poetry, he advances a reflective and analytical voice on leadership, culture, and sustainable development, advocating for African self-reliance grounded in respect for history and responsibility to future generations.
