The first foreigners to arrive in Uganda were Arab traders in 1845. In 1862, John Hannington Speke arrived in Buganda followed by Grant in 1865, and by Henry Morton Stanley in 1865.PHOTO BY WORTHPOINT 


The first Arab traders to Uganda carried along guns and ivory, setting the scene for commercial exchanges with indigenous people, especially Buganda.

These Europeans were referred to as ‘explorers’ – exploring territory for British expansion. Stanley helped Buganda raid the Islands of Buvuma and extracted a letter of invitation from Kabaka Mutesa I, inviting the white men to come to his kingdom.

Mutesa felt threatened by the spread of Egyptian imperialism and the old rivalry from the Kingdom of Bunyoro. He wanted guns to defend his kingdom and invited the whites thinking that they would help him in this task.
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