The Ganda (Baganda/Waganda) are a Bantu-speaking/ethnic group native to Buganda, a subnational kingdom within Uganda. The Ganda are the largest ethnic group in Uganda, located along the northern shore of Lake Victoria in present-day south-central Uganda. Foreign influences included the Islamic and Christian religions, which reached Buganda in the 19th century, especially during the rule of Mutesa I (1856–84). Buganda clans’ insistence on maintaining a separate political identity contributed to Uganda’s destabilization after the country reached independence in 1962. In 1966 open conflict broke out between the Bugandan ruler, Mutesa II, and the prime minister of Uganda, Milton Obote, who in 1967 abolished Buganda and the country’s three other traditional kingdoms. The Buganda kingdom was not restored until 1993.