The war graves at Nakawa are a small plot on the Old Port Bell Road east of central Kampala, holding twenty six Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, and they are cared for by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The Commission’s own name for it is Kampala (Nakawa Road) Cemetery, which is worth knowing because that is the only name that will find it in a register. It is quiet, tiny, usually empty and normally locked. The memorial tours guide covers Uganda’s harder history more widely; this page is how to actually get through the gate.
What a Tour of the Nakawa Road War Cemetery Shows You
Set your expectations low and they will be met kindly. This is not a great walled cemetery of the kind the Commission maintains in Europe. It is a modest plot with a mown grass centre and headstones set around the edges along the boundary line, kept to the Commission’s standard in the middle of a city that has grown around it.
That last point is the one that stays with people. The Commission’s plot survives because it is maintained under a permanent obligation. The much bigger burial ground it sat inside did not, and what is there now is food growing over it.
Who Is Buried Here, and What the East African Forces Were
Of the twenty six, nineteen were soldiers of the East African Forces and seven were men of the Uganda Police. That division tells you most of what the site is about.
Ugandans served in very large numbers in the Second World War, in the King’s African Rifles and the wider East African formations, in the campaign against the Italians in the Horn of Africa and later in Burma. Most who died did so a long way from home and are buried or commemorated elsewhere. The men here died on this side of the war: in training, in service, of illness, in the ordinary attrition of a colony mobilised for somebody else’s fight.
The police graves matter for the same reason. Wartime Uganda was policed while it was being recruited from, and the seven men buried here were doing a job that the war made more dangerous.
Their names are in the Commission’s register, which is searchable online and is the right place to start if you are looking for a specific person rather than visiting the place.
Getting the Gate Open: the Padlock, the Code and Planning the Trip
This is the practical thing nobody tells visitors and the reason people arrive and leave again. The cemetery keeps daytime hours on weekdays, and outside those hours the gates are shut with a coded padlock. The code is held by the Commission’s regional office in Nairobi, which also keeps weekday office hours, and its number is published on the Commission’s own page for this cemetery.
The Other Uganda War Cemeteries Worth a Trip
Uganda has four cemeteries of this kind: Kampala, Jinja, Entebbe and Tororo. Jinja is the largest and the most worth a detour, because Jinja was the country’s centre for the King’s African Rifles and the burials reflect that. Entebbe relates to the wartime airfield and flying boat traffic. Tororo sits on the eastern route to Kenya.
If war graves are the reason you are in the country, Jinja rather than Kampala is the visit to build a day around, and the Jinja guide covers what else is there. Kampala’s plot is for completeness, or for a particular name.
Visiting Respectfully: Notes for a Memorial Tour
The twenty six men here are buried in what is now somebody’s neighbourhood, and the surrounding ground holds African burials that were never given headstones. Walk the perimeter, read the stones, and stay off the cultivated ground beyond the plot, which belongs to people who are using it.
Photography of the headstones is ordinary and expected. Photographing anyone farming the surrounding ground is not, without asking. If you are visiting a particular grave, the Commission’s register will tell you the plot reference before you go, which saves walking the perimeter twice.
Getting There and Fitting It Into a Kampala Tour
The plot lies off the Old Port Bell Road, roughly eight kilometres from the centre on the eastern side of the city towards Nakawa and Luzira. One point of confusion: the Commission’s own directions describe that road as running west from the centre, which does not match the ground. Trust the road name and the distance rather than the compass point.
Nothing else on a normal Kampala itinerary is nearby, which is the honest reason this site gets skipped. It pairs with a run east towards Port Bell and the lake, or with the drive out to Namugongo on the northeastern side. The Kampala guide sets out how the city divides up, and the historical tours guide carries operators who will build an unusual stop into a day if you ask them in advance.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Nakawa Road War Cemetery
Is there an entrance fee?
No. Commonwealth war cemeteries are never ticketed. There is no staff on site, no shop and nothing to pay. A tip to whoever opens a gate for you is a courtesy, not a charge.
Why is it locked?
Because it is an unstaffed plot at the end of a track in a residential area, and locking it is how the Commission protects the headstones. The padlock has a code rather than a key, and the code is obtainable.
Can I find whether a relative is buried here?
Yes, and you should do it before travelling. The Commission keeps a free searchable register of every name it commemorates, with the cemetery and the plot reference. If the name is not in it, the person is not here.
How long does a visit take?
Fifteen minutes to walk the plot and read every stone. The time cost is the drive across Kampala and the chance of finding the gate shut, not the cemetery itself.
Is this the same as the Uganda Martyrs or the Amin memorials?
No. This is a war cemetery for men who died in Commonwealth service in the Second World War, maintained by an international commission. Uganda’s own memorials to political violence, at the Lubiri cells and in Luwero, are separate sites with a separate history.
Is it worth going?
For a family connection, absolutely, and the Commission maintains it so that you can. For a general visitor with three days in Uganda, no. It is twenty six graves and a long drive, and saying so is more useful than pretending otherwise.
Uganda Safaris lists safaris sold by independent Ugandan operators. We take no booking, handle no payment and charge you nothing. If you are coming to find a specific grave, contact an operator through the enquiry route well before you travel and say so plainly, because this stop needs a phone call and a gate code rather than a place on a standard city route.