"Entebbe", in the local Luganda language, means a
"seat", and was probably named that because it was the place where a
Baganda chief sat to adjudicate legal cases. It first became a British colonial
administrative and commercial centre in 1893 when Sir Gerald Portal, a colonial
Commissioner, used it as a base. Port Bell went on to become Kampala's harbor.
Although no ships dock there now, there is still a jetty, which was used by
Lake Victoria ferries. Entebbe is perhaps best known to Europeans as the home
of Entebbe International Airport, the main international airport of Uganda,
which was started in 1947. The
