Except for its ancient architectural look and rusty iron sheets there is nothing to indicate that the Kisingiri house is 101 years old. It still looks magnificently beautiful, well painted in blue and white colours, and has not single crack. As you go up the Kabakanjagala drive off Rubaga road between Mengo court and Bulange, you will see a grand storeyed house.

Young Kabaka Chwa and Sir. Apollo Kaggwa on extreme right

According to omutaka Masike Kitaka, the LC Chairman, of Masiki zone in Mengo and also a paternal uncle to the Kisingiri family, the Kisingiri house is probably the only one of its kind in the country. The house was built in 1896 by Miller and Stanley who were reputable European masons at the time, for Zakaria Kizito Kisingiri. Kisingiri was one of the three Regents to the then young King Daudi Chwa and was one of the few wealthy men.
Kisingiri also became Buganda,s Treasurer when Daudi Chwa was old enough to rule on his own.

According to Uganda Memories (1897 – 1940) he was liked by all Europeans and he was one of the who remembered Speke coming to Uganda in 1862. He died in 1917 and was succeeded by his son Stanley. Stanley Kisingiri married the late Sir Edward Muteesa II’s sister, Princess Beatrice Muggale, who still stays in the house with some of her children and grand children. Kisingiri died in 1991.

The three stored house, was built with sun-dried mud bricks and stones. It has 70 rooms, some of which are 20 by 20 square feet each. Each of its two sitting rooms is big enough to make a complete house. It5 has board floors upstairs and paneled doors and shutters. According to Grace Kitaka, one of the children, only half of the rooms are occupied by the Kisingiri family and the rest are empty. “We have no intentions of renting them out” said Grace. When asked why, he said without elaborating that their culture doesn’t permit it.

The stone that make the fire places in the two large sitting rooms glitter. Inside the house is a 20 feet swimming pool, all rooms have cemented ceilings and are painted white. There are modern bath tubs, sinks and toilets and a very tidy wooden staircases. The house has electricity and running water. All of these are renovations which have been made on the house with time.

Omutaka Masiki says that the house is estimated to stay for 500 years. It was built on a three acre peace of land and has the compound of the size of a football pitch. As you enter the compound you will be welcomed by three Tortoises, Ronnick, Braiton and Scichen, which have been there since 1940. They were already at least 100 years each when they were brought.

“You cant find them any where in East Africa. Not even in the Zoos!. People from all walks of life, Tourists, Diplomats, Dignitaries and visitors flock here to see these animals and to admire the culture and history” said Grace Kitaka.

The house has another story to tell. Ssekabaka Mwanga’s body was rested there for days before it was buried when it was brought back from the Seychelles Islands where he died in 1904.

The house was also once used as a Gombolola for many years before the late Stanley Kisingiri came back from abroad where he had gone to study. One of the Sons of a ruler (Omwami) in Buganda Kingdom called Stanley Kitaka brought to Buganda Kingdom something that no one knew at that time that it was going to be a source of awe to not only the peoples of Buganda, but to all of those go get the opportunity to see it. This was the introduction of the rare species of tortoise from the islands of Seychelles.

In 1945, Stanley, while returning from a political exile in Seychelles, brought with him three tortoise which had been given to him by his friends as send away gifts. It is reported that at the time these tortoise were given to Stanley, they were over 200 years old.

Since then, these tortoise have continued to be a source of awe to those who visit the late Kasigiri’s home located along the “Royal Mile” Kabaka Njagala road stretch joining the Kabaka’s Palace and the Bulange in Kampala.