Mengo Hospital and Ham Mukasa House, Kampala, Uganda – May 18, 2017 – International Museums Day
Representatives from government, civil society, religious institutions, individual cultural activists and well-wishers gathered at Mengo Hospital and at the Ham Mukasa ancestral home to recognize preservation efforts of the owners of these historical properties.
Kampala is expanding and becoming a modern city, but also losing its historical and cultural identity, especially as historical buildings and sites get modified or even demolished. The event is one of CCFU’s initiatives to enhance the appreciation of Kampala’s built heritage.
The Irish Ambassador, H.E Donal Cronin officiated at these two events as a show of recognition of these efforts of the two actors in built heritage preservation spearheaded by CCFU
The event was to raise the visibility of the two historical properties in Kampala, the first being the Catherine and Luke Wards at Mengo Hospital which are the very first medical wards in Uganda built in 1904. The second is a 1902 house belonging to the Ham Mukasa family. Ham Mukasa was Secretary to one of the longest serving Prime Ministers of Buganda Kingdom and saza chief (Sekiboobbo) of Kyaggwe.
In April 2015, the Foundation initiated a project to preserve historical buildings and produced a historical buildings map of Kampala (copies available). As an important step towards the preservation and promotion of these assets, owners and managers of historical properties in Kampala were trained and CCFU has now supported Mengo Hospital to produce an information board about the story of Sir. Dr. Albert Cook and Mengo Hospital, and the Ham Mukasa Family to produce a plaque and a brochure for the building.
CCFU calls upon the government of Uganda to invest in the preservation of historical properties and to protect historical buildings by establishing and enacting an ordinance in this regard and educate the public about these important markers in our history as a country.