Bulingugwe Island
Bulingugwe Island is a small island in northern Lake Victoria. It is about 6 miles south of Kampala, Uganda.
After the Battle of Mengo Hill in which the Uganda Army raided the Lubiri Palace on 24 January 1892, the Kabaka Mwanga II of Buganda fled to exile there briefly.
Geography and setting
Bulingugwe Island lies at about 0°13′26″N, 32°37′49″E. GeoView lists a length of 3.52 kilometres. Mindat records alternate names in use, including “Bulinguge Island” and “Bulingugu Island”, and lists the local Köppen climate type as Af.Munyonyo is described as bordering the island to the southeast in local geography descriptions of the area.
History
During political and religious conflict in Buganda in 1892, Kabaka Mwanga II took refuge on Bulingugwe Island after fighting around Mengo. A contemporary mission account also refers to Mwanga staying on Bulingugwe during the period when assistance was sought from the Imperial British East Africa Company.A Daily Monitor retrospective describes an attack on Bulingugwe Island on 30 January 1892 during the same conflict, reporting heavy loss of life and linking events to military activity based around Munyonyo on the mainland shore.