It displays and exhibits ethnological, natural-historical and traditional life collections of Uganda's cultural heritage.

[1][2] Among the collections in the Uganda Museum are playable musical instruments, hunting equipment, weaponry, archaeology and entomology.

Its history goes back to 1902 when deputy Governor George Wilson called for collection of objects of interest throughout the country to set up a museum.

Between the 1920s and 1940s, archaeology and paleontological surveys and excavations were conducted by Church Hill, E. J. Wayland, Bishop J. Wilson, P. L. Shinnie, E. Lanning, and several others, who collected a significant number of artifacts to boost the museum.

[7] The ethnography gallery, formerly called the "Tribal Hall", is organized around a series of wooden “shop window” cases, each of which holds objects that derive from the traditional cultures of Uganda's people.

Student tours are conducted around the museum, as well as giving introductory lectures with slides, films, and other aids.

Inside the house there is backcloth, drums, baskets for Luwombo, hunting nets, wooden sandals (emikalabanda), and the Omweso game popular among the Baganda.

[13][14] The building was designed with ample natural lighting and air to ensure proper preservation of objects.

The Uganda Government was planning to build an "East African Trade Centre" (sometimes referred to as the Kampala Tower) on the site.

In 2011, four civil society organisations, the Historic Resources Conservation Initiatives (HRCI), Cross Cultural Foundation of Uganda (CCFU), Historical Buildings Conservation Trust (HBCT) and Jenga Afrika, took the Government of the Republic of Uganda to court to halt the government's plans.