Kajumba was his father's preferred heir, as Suuna frequently pointed out to his chiefs the heroic qualities of the prince.

The country groaned and rumbled that Kayiira’s choice of Mukaabya, a young and weakling prince, was a deliberate manoeuvre to enable him to become the real ruler of the land.

[3] The capital at Kabojja got its name due to the numerous executions carried out while the king was resident there, as the name echoes something as deadly as a snake bite.

Like his forefathers, Muteesa fought several wars of conquest to expand Buganda's territory, to protect its trade routes and to defend it against external foes like Bunyoro Kitara, the Khedivate of Egypt, slave traders and Buvuma.

Muslim Swahili and Arab traders from Zanzibar were increasingly established in Buganda since the 1840s to trade firearms, gunpowder, salt, and cloth in exchange for ivory and slaves.

[5]: 151 General Charles George Gordon Pasha governor of Equatoria province, the Khedivate of Egypt, sent several envoys to Buganda.

In order to protect his kingdom, Muteesa I needed modern arms, ammunition and alliances with a more powerful entity like the British Empire.

[citation needed] In 2007, Muteesa I Royal University was opened in his name, in recognition of his contribution to the education of the people of Buganda and Uganda.

The first chancellor of the university was Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, the current reigning Buganda monarch.

[8] The Catholic Church, alleged by Ugandan officials to have been somewhat reluctant to honor him in the years following his death, began to more fully recognize his religious contributions in the 21st century, after canonizing the Christian martyrs who died under the reign of his son.

He had the strengths and subtlety to balance the Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and pagans, so that he controlled them all, just as he kept in touch with the rest of the world, but managed not to be swamped by it.