Murchison Falls · History and memory
Kabalega Falls history
The waterfall carries two powerful historical associations: a British geographical name recorded in 1864 and the name of Omukama Kabalega, remembered for Bunyoro’s resistance to colonial expansion.
Bunyoro and Murchison Falls, western and northwestern Uganda
At a glance
What to know
- Samuel and Florence Baker recorded reaching the falls in 1864
- Samuel Baker named them after Roderick Murchison
- The government proclaimed the Kabalega name in 1972
- The official name later reverted to Murchison Falls
Before the travel accounts
The Nile and surrounding lands were already known, used and understood by local communities. AfriSawari therefore avoids calling the Bakers the waterfall’s discoverers. Their importance is that their 1864 account introduced the site to a European geographical audience and attached the Murchison name.
Who Kabalega was
Chwa II Kabalega ruled Bunyoro from 1870 to 1899 and organised sustained resistance to British expansion. Captured in 1899, he spent about 24 years in exile in the Seychelles and died in 1923 while returning towards Bunyoro. His name carries national and regional meaning far beyond the waterfall.
Why Kabalega Falls appeared in 1972
In December 1972, Idi Amin’s government renamed a group of colonial-era landmarks. Murchison Falls and the national park became Kabalega Falls and Kabalega National Park. After Amin’s fall in 1979, official usage returned to Murchison Falls, although Kabalega remains a culturally meaningful alternative name.
How AfriSawari tells the story
We present the documented sequence without inventing an earlier official name and without erasing local knowledge. Travellers meet the landscape, the colonial naming record and Kabalega’s resistance history together.
Continue exploring Uganda
Research sources
Editorial facts are checked against these sources. Fees, access rules and schedules can change and should be confirmed before booking.
- Omukama Chwa II Kabalega — Hoima City
- The 1972 Kabalega Falls renaming — Daily Monitor
- Murchison Falls National Park — Uganda Wildlife Authority