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Entebbe State House sits on what was once a sacred hill
Newambwa Hill, where Nsamizi Army Primary School, next to State House was built. Photo by Martin Ssebuyira.
What you need to know:
Where the State House in Entebbe is located are two hills which locals say were sacred to Buganda Kingdom as they were a place where their forefathers communicated with the ancestors.
Entebbe State house is one of most magnificent structures Uganda has that attracts attention of every person right from when one is landing at the airport till he/she traverses through Portal Road in Entebbe town.
It sits on a 57-hectare piece of land, on two hills of Nsamizi and Newambwa in the centre of Entebbe town and its location enables you have a beautiful view of the airport and Lake Victoria.
Mr Lawrence Lwanga, 67, of Kiwafu East in Division B has lived in Entebbe since the 1950s and explains that State House sits on Nsamizi hill while an army garrison sits on Newambwa hill.
Cultural significance
The hills are very historical to Buganda and Uganda because they are believed to have spirits where Buganda kings used to camp and communicate with spirits.
Mr Robert Kaggwa Nzirinze, who has lived at Lunyo village in Entebbe from 1955, says all Buganda kings used to visit these hills to communicate with Buganda spirits to keep the kingdom in peace, help the Ganda army (Abagalagala) triumph over Buganda, among other things.
“It was named Nsamizi from ‘Kusamira’ literally translated as ‘mediating with spirits’,” Mr Nzirinze says.
A worker in State House, who refused to be quoted, said they get huge snakes in the area and soldiers kill them and that some people attribute this to spirits that were residing in the hills. People close to traditional beliefs say spirits can appear in any form be it a snake, person, insect depending on the way they have decided to appear to the people they want to talk to.
“One time, we saw a huge snake and some soldier started shooting at it but failed to kill it. After some months, he ran mad,” the soldier said.
Although the history of when the first State House was constructed is not properly documented, it can be traced as far back as at the turn of the century when the then Imperial British East African Company started some kind of administration structures in Uganda in 1888.
Mr Alex Okello, an archivist at the National Archives Centre says the place used to be called the government house and was home to all the governors at the time.
Mr Simon Peter Kezimbira,78, a senior resident in Entebbe says no black skinned people were allowed to either access the government house nor the governor’s office, which they called ‘sectari’ and currently houses National Agricultural Research Organisation (Naro) head offices.
“It were only the governor’s two artisans who used to repair his vehicles and his driver only identified as Mapesa who could access the premises,” Mr Kezimbira recalls.
The home that has been the official residence of all heads of state since colonial days has undergone several changes over the years.
Today, it is an impressive building that houses the President’s office, a master bedroom overlooking the green forests on the shores of Lake Victoria, a club with a state-of-the-art gym for visiting dignitaries, ceremonial gift rooms, laundry facilities, reception halls and lounges.
Outside the inner fence is a pre-primary school, Nsamizi army primary school, staff medical centre, shopping centre, armoury, stores, garages, workshops and a security monitoring centre.
Taking still and video photographs of the splendid home without authorisation is strictly prohibited as there are sign posts placed around its perimeter wall stopping people from taking photographs.
