Indian businesses and services in Kampala, Uganda

Few diaspora histories have a break as sharp as Kampala's. Asians had lived in Uganda for generations, many arriving with the railway and the trade that followed, when Idi Amin expelled them in 1972 with ninety days to leave. After 1986 the new government invited them back, and in the 1990s began returning confiscated property; many families came back to rebuild businesses, and newer arrivals from India have since joined them.

Today the community is visible across central Kampala, where Indian-owned shops and wholesalers trade on the streets around the city centre, and families live in residential areas across the city. Temples, schools and community halls are mostly within a short drive of the centre.

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, on Swaminarayan Road, is one of the main Hindu temples in the city, and there are other Hindu temples, including a second Swaminarayan mandir, and active community associations. Diwali and Navratri are the main celebrations, with garba nights drawing large crowds. About 80 kilometres east of the capital, Jinja, on Lake Victoria near the source of the White Nile, has a Hindu temple of its own and can easily be visited in a day. In Kampala itself traffic is heavy, and many people use boda bodas, the motorcycle taxis, for short journeys.