The Kabaka of Buganda climbed his palace wall to escape the army, and died in a London flat three years later

Sir Edward Mutesa II, Kabaka (king) of Buganda, was also the first President of Uganda from 1963. In 1966 Prime Minister Milton Obote suspended the constitution. On 24 May 1966 troops commanded by Idi Amin attacked the Kabaka's palace at Mengo. Mutesa climbed over the palace wall and escaped to Burundi and then London. In 1967 Obote abolished Uganda's kingdoms, and Buganda's land and buildings passed to the state. Mutesa died in a London flat on 21 November 1969, officially of alcohol poisoning; his supporters believed he was poisoned^†. After Amin overthrew Obote in 1971, he returned the body for burial at the Kasubi Tombs. The kingdoms were restored as cultural institutions in 1993, and Mutesa's son Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II was crowned. Some Buganda properties were returned in the 1990s and 2010s; claims to land remain disputed^†. The Kasubi Tombs burned in 2010 and have been rebuilt^†.