A Conrad In Kampala: Visiting Muammar Gaddafi Mosque

This was my first turn at a more stereotypical tourist venture in Kampala (outside of the traditional craft markets). I had met up with some new Canadian friends and we decided that the slightly overcast day might be a good opportunity to knock off a key item off of the Kampala Bucket List.

The Gaddafi Mosque, also known as the National Mosque, was originally started under Idi Amin, but political corruption, a general bureaucratic lack of interest, and the minority status of Muslims in post-Amin Uganda led the mosque to go untouched into the 21^st century. Libya’s infamous Colonol Muammar Qaddafi – on one of his trademark pan-Africa “unity” tours – saw the unfinished mosque and donated a lot of money to see it completed in 2007. The site is significant, because it sits on a hill, where Kampala originated under its current title of “Kampala”. As the story goes, the British colonial forces had a camp up on the hill, and there were Impalas in the area. To differentiate from other camps in the region, it was known as “Camp Impala” and shortened to Campala. However, the “C” sound has a different meaning, so the present spelling was adopted. From the minaret of the mosque, you can see all of Kampala, and easily identify the seven hills of Kampala which identify the main areas – many of them also contain the other places of worship.

Arriving at the Mosque, the three ladies were instructed to put on more covering clothing, but the staff were

quite accommodating. By default of my gender, I was appointed group leader and had to sign for the group and take responsibility. We got a tour from a Ugandan gentleman named Ashraf who was quite energetic and quite humorous. We got a good history of Islam in the country, the building and a basic overview of some of the pillars of Islam. He was open, encouraging and seemed willing to get into a cross-faith dialogue with anyone interested.

As often happens in Kampala, you sometimes get the contrast of modernity with tradition. Ashraf had just started chanting / reading some passage from the Koran, when the moment was broken by the petulant dinging of his cell phone. Not missing a beat, he reaches into his pocket and rejects the call. Seconds later, the scene is repeated; only shifting his eyes, he reaches down and disconnects the call. Again, and again, it happened, until finally after a few minutes he gives in and answers the phone. Only to discover that the

person had hung up.

“He’s trying to ‘beep’ me!” he reveals. “He doesn't want to pay for the air-time.”

He then gets a mischievous grin, “Goodness, Africans eh?! They are something aren’t they? I just don’t understand them.” The timing was perfect and our all Mzungu tour group laughed pretty hard.

Please enjoy some of these photos from the mosque and some aerial photos taken from the minaret.