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Kabaka's palace: Royalty forever stained with a legacy

Each year tourists from all over the world <a href="https://www.pulse.ug/lifestyle/food-travel/feature-a-thing-or-two-about-touring-uganda-by-car/6lg3sdz">trudge through the dark and heavy past</a> of Buganda kingdom's Kabaka's Palace. The palace, which also doubled as a torture command centre for Uganda's notorious presidents, stands on the edge between a wealthy culture and evil that still haunts it today.
Kabaka's palace: Royalty stained with a dark legacy/Courtesy
Kabaka's palace: Royalty stained with a dark legacy/Courtesy

The palace is located in Mengo, Lubiri Ring Road and is a tourist stop centre for culture aficionados. It is home to Buganda's kings but forever stained with the bearing of Idi Amin’s Torture Chambers or Haunted Mansion, and later, Milton Obote.

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The horrific crimes against humanity are believed to have infested the palace with the spirits of those who suffered there.

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The landmark is rated 4 stars on Tripadvisor by over 100 tourists who have visited it. 

Unsurprisingly, it is the gruesome buried past that stands out against the building and Buganda's royal traditions.

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"The Lubiri Palace building itself is in a nice setting with the Buganda Parliament at the other end of a 1-mile drive. However, the building is not special (19th Century British colonial style) and you are not allowed in the building. On the grounds, there is an armoury building which was used as a torture chamber by Idi Amin and in which thousands of people died. Whilst there is nothing to see apart from a disused building, its past stirs up emotions," says Nigel, B. a tourist from London, United Kingdom.

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The palace has undergone renovation but remains closed to the public. Tourists can access the dark chambers and souvenir stands where they can buy homemade paintings.

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Entrance is about Shs10,000 and the tour can take up to half an hour. 

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