The school was founded by the Busoga local administration (known as the "lukiiko" in Lusoga) in 1959 to improve education among the Basoga boys. The only school in Busoga region that was for Boys was Busoga College Mwiri. However, while initially Mwiri was intended to offer education to only sons of members of the Busoga royal family including chiefs and other prominent Busoga political figures with a few locals, this vision was thrown into tatters when Mwiri (presumably from political pressures) embarked on recruiting students from other areas in Uganda. Competition for enrollment became so stiff in that, the enrollment of the Basoga boys was dismal. This led to the Busoga Local lukiiko to establish another boys-only school to serve the Basoga boys, hence Kiira College Butiki. However, the same enrollment ghosts from Busoga College Mwiri haunted Butiki and the latter also embarked on a national recruitment for boys from other areas of Uganda. There is a long known historical academic "rivalry" between students from Mwiri and Butiki.
