The President, Mrs Mary McAleese, began her 11-day visit to east Africa this afternoon when she arrived at the Entebbe Airport in Uganda this evening.
Mr McAleese is expected to meet Irish missionaries during her tour of Uganda and Kenya.
During her stay, she will travel around the country, mostly by plane and helicopter, to visit mission hospitals, schools, development projects and AIDS clinics.
Mrs McAleese is due to visit Lodwar in northern Kenya where Irish Catholic missionaries are providing social services and, more recently, educating local people about their voting and other civic rights.