education 31 March 2026 Daily Monitor (Uganda)
Visionary Founders Behind King’s College Budo’s 120-Year Legacy
King’s College Budo, marking 120 years since its 1906 founding, owes its status as a premier institution producing Uganda’s top leaders to the genius of founders Bishop Alfred Robert Tucker, Henry Walter Weatherhead, and Sir Apollo Kaggwa. Established as an intermediate school for chiefs’ sons post-Mengo High School, it emphasized visionary planning, practical execution, and cultural integration. Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/oped/columnists/muniini-k-mulera/genius-of-the-founders-of-king-s-college-budo-5408682
King’s College Budo, perched on the sacred Naggalabi hill in Buganda, stands as a pivotal force in shaping Uganda’s future, now celebrating 120 years since its establishment on March 29, 1906.
The school has produced generations of doctors, economists, lawyers, engineers, artists, and leaders—known as Budonians—thanks to the deliberate vision of its founders.
Bishop Alfred Robert Tucker provided the visionary spark, pushing for higher education in colonial Uganda and funding an intermediate college when the Church Missionary Society hesitated. His dream extended to a full university.
Henry Walter Weatherhead, the first headmaster, executed the plan with precision, selecting Budo Hill for its terrain, water, and views, despite opposition over its royal significance.
Sir Apollo Kaggwa, Buganda’s Prime Minister acting for young Kabaka Daudi Chwa, bridged tradition and modernity by granting the sacred site, ensuring the school’s viability.
From the start, Budo targeted advanced training for chiefs’ sons after Mengo High School, blending academics with hands-on skills like carpentry and metalwork, introduced via a workshop by Herbert Thomas Candy Weatherhead.
Pioneering co-education in 1933 under Rev Canon Harold Myers Grace set it apart in the British Empire. The motto ‘Gakyali Mabaga’—We are Still Building—reflects its ongoing evolution.
This legacy stems from founders who turned a hill into an enduring educational powerhouse.
Source: Daily Monitor (Uganda)