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Unlike the other hills that are steeped in Buganda tradition, the 4,305 feet Kololo hill is believed to have got its name from Rwot Awich, the paramount chief of Payiira in Acholi who was imprisoned on the hill, by the British, in 1912.
The chief, suffering incarceration reportedly kept saying “kololo” which in Acholi means “on one’s own” – from “kolo” which means “single”). He was lamenting that he had been left do die alone.
Puzzled, his incarcerators and attendants who did not understand Acholi started referring to the hill as ‘hill of Kololo’ and the name stuck. Today, the colonial outpost atop the hill that served as a prison is now the Summit View military barracks.
In the intervening years, Kololo hill became the home of colonial officials and civil servants. It is one of the best planned, with a good road network and beautiful houses with large well-trimmed lawns etc.
At the base of the hill is Kololo Airstrip, a portion of which has been reserved as a burial ground for ‘national heroes’. Only two eminent Ugandans have been buried here so far, namely: independence movement hero I.K.Musaazi who founded Uganda National Congress, the country’s first political party; and Prof. Yusuf Kilonde Lule, the founder chairman of the National Resistance Movement, which is the ruling party.
