Central Kampala holds a cluster of landmarks that rarely justify a trip of their own but make a good half day strung together on foot. This page covers four of them: the money museum inside the Bank of Uganda, the Muteesa II monument, the Stride monument raised for the Commonwealth summit, and Nakasero Mosque. Between them they cover currency, kingship, diplomacy and a working neighbourhood mosque, all within about two kilometres.
A Walking Tour of Central Kampala: What Is Worth Stopping For
Kampala’s centre is not built for walking and does it badly: broken pavements, heavy traffic, and hills that are steeper than they look on a map. Even so, the stops below sit close enough together that walking beats sitting in a car between them, and you see more.
Take a morning. Start on Kampala Road, work down to the monuments on Nile Avenue, finish near Parliament. Carry water, keep your phone pocketed, and accept that you will cross roads where traffic stops for nobody.
The Money Museum at the Bank of Uganda: A Free City Tour Stop
This is the surprise of the four, and almost nobody outside Kampala knows it exists. The central bank runs the C. N. Kikonyogo Money Museum inside its own headquarters on Kampala Road, named for a former governor, and it is open to the public on weekdays through office hours at no charge. Bring identification, because you are walking into a central bank and you will be signed in.
What is inside is better than the phrase money museum suggests. The exhibits trace what Ugandans have used as money, through the colonial notes that carried foreign monarchs, the East African Currency Board period run out of Jinja, and the shilling since. Old banking machinery sits alongside the weapons once used to guard the currency board’s offices. The sharpest thread through it is political: whose face is on a note, and what that told people about who was in charge.
Allow an hour. It pairs naturally with the wider museum circuit and makes far more sense of Ugandan history than the outside of any government building will.
The Bank of Uganda Building, and What You Cannot Do There
The bank itself occupies several buildings on Kampala Road, with a banking hall open to the public and everything else firmly closed. It was established in the mid nineteen sixties as the country’s central bank, it issues the shilling, and it is a working institution with serious security around it.
So be clear about the limits. There is no tour of the bank, no viewing of the vaults and no wandering upstairs. Beyond the museum and the banking hall, a visitor sees the outside of a building. Do not photograph the frontage, the guards or the entrances, which brings us to the part of this page that matters most.
Photography Rules on a Central Kampala Tour
Photographing government buildings, banks, police and soldiers draws attention quickly in Uganda, and this two kilometre stretch is thick with all four. The central bank, Parliament, the roads towards State House and any building with armed guards outside it all fall into the category where a raised camera invites a question.
The question is usually polite and ends with you putting the camera away. It can also end with an officer wanting to see what you have taken. Keep the lens on the monuments, which are public sculpture and entirely fine to photograph, and put the phone away when you walk past anything official. Drones over central Kampala are a separate matter and need permissions no visitor arranges on the day.
The Muteesa II Monument on a Monuments Tour
Sir Edward Muteesa II was Kabaka of Buganda from the late nineteen thirties until his death, and Uganda’s first president after independence. He was deposed when the army stormed his palace at Mengo, fled into exile, and died in London a few years later. The statue was unveiled by the present Kabaka, his son Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, decades after that.
The monument itself has moved. It stood at the junction of Speke Road and Nile Avenue until road works to ease traffic pushed it to a triangular patch of ground near the Serena and the Imperial Royale, which is where you will find it now. That relocation drew criticism at the time, and the new setting is a traffic island rather than a place of any dignity.
Stand in front of it with the story of the palace in mind and it lands properly. Our page on the Kabaka’s Palace at Mengo covers what happened to him and to the enclosure he was driven from.
The Stride Monument: What the CHOGM Tour Stop Is
Between the Parliament gardens and the Serena stands a group of figures in stride, raised when Uganda hosted the Commonwealth heads of government meeting. It was designed by a team of Ugandan artists led by George Kyeyune, with Maria Naita, David Kigozi and Henry Segamwenge among them, and unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II during the summit.
The figures read as a family moving forward together, which is the reading the Commonwealth wanted of itself, and it is one of the better pieces of public sculpture in the city.
It sits five minutes from the Independence Monument and a similar distance from Parliament, which is why the three work as one walk.
Nakasero Mosque: What Is and Is Not There
Nakasero Mosque appears on lists of Kampala attractions, and it deserves an honest entry. It is a working mosque serving the Muslim community of Nakasero, the hill that holds the city’s business district, the main market and the approaches to State House. It is used daily. It is part of the neighbourhood.
What is not available is any published account of it. We could not find a reliable record of when it was built, who built it, or any visitor provision at all, and the pages that list it repeat the same few lines of general description with no source behind them. There is no ticket, no guide, no visiting arrangement and no reason to believe one exists.
If what you want is to visit a mosque in Kampala, go to the Uganda National Mosque at Old Kampala, which is set up for visitors, guided, and has the minaret climb, or to Kibuli Mosque on its own hill, which is among the oldest in the country. Turning up at a small neighbourhood mosque expecting a tour is an imposition on people at prayer.
Putting It Together: A Half Day Walking Trip
The sensible order is museum first, monuments after. Reach the bank on Kampala Road in the morning while the museum is open, give it an hour, then walk down towards Nile Avenue for the Independence Monument, the Stride monument and the Muteesa II statue in whatever order the streets allow. Finish at Parliament, which needs written permission arranged in advance if you want to go in.
That is a comfortable three to four hours including the walking. Our Kampala guide covers how the central hills fit together, and the city tours guide covers what a guided day in the capital usually includes and what it usually skips.
Frequently Asked Questions About Central Kampala’s Landmarks
Does the money museum cost anything?
No. Entry is free and no ticket is issued. You will need identification to be admitted to the bank’s premises, and it is open on weekdays through normal office hours rather than at weekends. Nothing else in this walk charges a fee either.
Can I photograph the Bank of Uganda?
Do not. The building, its entrances and its guards are exactly the sort of subject that gets a camera inspected in Uganda. Inside the museum, ask staff before taking pictures of exhibits. The public sculpture on Nile Avenue is a different matter and perfectly fine.
Where exactly is the Muteesa II monument now?
On a triangular piece of ground near the Serena and the Imperial Royale, off Nile Avenue. It used to stand at the Speke Road junction and was moved during road works. Older guidebooks and maps still show it at the old spot, which catches people out.
What did the Stride monument cost to build?
Reported figures at the time put it around a hundred and fifty million shillings, which made it one of the more expensive public sculptures ever commissioned in the country. That number comes from press reporting rather than any published account, so treat it as an order of magnitude.
Is it safe to walk between these stops?
In daylight, yes, with normal city sense. The genuine hazard is traffic rather than crime: crossings are chaotic and drivers do not yield. Keep your phone away, your bag in front, and cross with a group of locals rather than on your own judgement.
Can I visit Nakasero Mosque?
There is no visiting arrangement and nothing published to suggest one. It is a working local mosque, not a heritage site. Anyone wanting to see inside a mosque in Kampala should go to the National Mosque at Old Kampala, which welcomes visitors, provides dress and offers a guided visit and the minaret climb.
Uganda Safaris lists safaris sold by independent Ugandan operators. We take no booking, handle no payment and charge you nothing. None of these stops is sold as a trip in its own right, so ask an operator running a Kampala city tour to walk the centre rather than drive it, or contact one through the enquiry route and say you want the money museum included, because most itineraries have never heard of it.