Archival Recovery

The Archives

150,000 court records, two judicial archives, and a century of ordinary people's legal reasoning, recovered and preserved.

150,000
The Largest Legal Archive in Sub-Saharan Africa

Between 2017 and 2018, I discovered two judicial archives in Kampala that had been left uncatalogued and deteriorating: the records of the High Court of Uganda and the Mengo Court, Buganda's principal native court.

The High Court records are in English and contain appellate rulings from across Uganda. The Mengo Court records are in Luganda, written by court clerks and judges in the Buganda Kingdom's native courts. Together they document divorce cases, land disputes, debt claims, assault charges, adultery hearings, and inheritance contests spanning nearly a century.

I assembled and led a team of 15+ archivists, academics, and court staff who transported over 800 boxes of materials, sorted, catalogued, and transferred the collection to the Uganda National Archives. No other archive of this scale exists for research anywhere in Africa.

150,000+
Court cases recovered
800+
Boxes transported
15+
Team members
~100 yrs
Of proceedings
Inside the Archive
Storage room packed with records
High Court of Uganda records stored in a basement room in Kampala, packed floor to ceiling prior to archival recovery. These records were uncatalogued and at risk of deterioration when they were discovered.
Shelves of deteriorating records
Members of the archival team who organized and catalogued the High Court and Mengo Court records.
Sauda Nabukenya in the archive
This photograph was taken during the initial stages of assessing the condition and scope of the collection.
Unsorted court records
Unsorted court records at the Mengo Court prior to organizing and cataloguing.
Records stacked
Sauda Nabukenya organizing court records on shelves at the Uganda National Archives.
Sauda sorting court records
Sauda Nabukenya sorting and reading court records during the cataloguing project at Mengo Court. The work involved identifying case types, dates, jurisdictions, and languages of record.
Archival team at work
The Mengo Court archive filled with records of the Buganda Kingdom. These files include civil and criminal proceedings written primarily in Luganda.
Archival project team
Interior view of the Mengo Court archive. The collection documents decades of adjudication in Buganda’s native courts.
Organized archive boxes
A bundled set of Buganda Kingdom court records. Files were originally stored in tied bundles before archival rehousing.
Stanislas Mugwanya title certificate, 1907
The Stanislas Mugwanya Title, 1907
A certificate of the official estate of Stanislas Mugwanya, Omulamuzi of Uganda, found in the Mengo Court Archive. Dated September 23, 1907, and signed by Henry Hesketh Bell, His Majesty's Commissioner for the Uganda Protectorate.
Buganda Kingdom court form
Buganda Kingdom Court Record
A court filing form from the Ggombolola Enkulu Ey'Olukiko, Mmengo, written in Luganda. These forms recorded the names of complainants, defendants, and presiding judges in the Buganda Kingdom's native courts.
Archive Catalogues
Access the Catalogues
Mengo Court Archive catalogue volumes

Our team created detailed catalogues for both archives. These catalogues record each case file with identifying information, case type, and classification. They are available for download to researchers, students, and archivists.

📚
High Court of Uganda Catalogue
Appellate rulings from across Uganda, in English. Cases catalogued at the item level by case type, parties, and date.
Download PDF →
📚
Mengo Court Archive Catalogue
Native court records from Buganda's principal court, in Luganda. Prepared by the University of Michigan, Makerere University, and the National Records Centre.
Download PDF →
Multimedia
Featured Presentations
Dr. Sauda Nabukenya - University of Michigan Rackham Graduate Exercises 2025
This research course changed my life - Sauda Nabukenya