Rotary is a worldwide organization of more than 1.2 million business, professional, and community leaders. Members of Rotary clubs, known as Rotarians, provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.
There are 33,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas. Clubs are nonpolitical, nonreligious, and open to all cultures, races, and creeds. As signified by the motto Service Above Self, Rotary’s main objective is service — in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world.

The Rotary club of Kampala was chartered by the Rotary International(RI)- as club No. 17287, effective May 20, 1957. Preceding that date, a number of events had occured.

The club owes its founding to the Rotarians in Nairobi who as far back as 1946, tried to establish a club in Kampala. The problem that the sponsoring club faced was the difficulty of finding people with relatively permanent residence in Kampala within commerce and industry professions since during the colonial days, prospective Rotary members likely to be inducted into Rotary were expatriates on short tours of service.