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History
Archeology tells us that prehistoric man walked the earth in what
is now Uganda, and many sites have been excavated that show habitation
over the centuries. One of the more recent excavations is at Kiboro
near Lake Albert, where there are traces of village life going back
a thousand years.
Recorded history has a much shorter tradition, and a documentary evidence
of Uganda's past goes only 150 years. However, oral traditions are also important
to us, and from these we learn stories of several hundred years ago. The 19th
century was a period of great change and great strife in Uganda. Many of the most
famous sites are associated to this period. Important sites that relate to people
and events in Uganda's rich past are now popular places for tourists to visit.
A Brief History
When Arab traders moved inland from their enclaves along the Indian Ocean coast
of East Africa and reached the interior of Uganda in the 1830s, they found several
African kingdoms with well-developed political institutions dating back several
centuries. These traders were followed in the 1860s by British explorers searching
for the source of the Nile River. Protestant missionaries entered the country
in 1877, followed by Catholic missionaries in 1879.
In 1888, control of the emerging British "sphere of interest" in East Africa
was assigned by royal charter to the Imperial British East Africa Company, an
arrangement strengthened in 1890 by an Anglo-German agreement confirming British
dominance over Kenya and Uganda. The high cost of occupying the territory caused
the company to withdraw in 1893, and its administrative functions were taken over
by a British commissioner. In 1894, the Kingdom of Buganda was placed under a
formal British protectorate.
Britain granted internal self-government to Uganda in 1961, with the first
elections held on March 1, 1961. Benedicto Kiwanuka of the Democratic Party became
the first Chief Minister. Uganda maintained its Commonwealth membership.
In succeeding years, supporters of a centralized state vied with those in favor
of a loose federation and a strong role for tribally based local kingdoms. Political
maneuvering climaxed in February 1966, when Prime Minister Milton Obote suspended
the constitution, assumed all government powers, and removed the president and
vice president. In September 1967, a new constitution proclaimed Uganda a republic,
gave the president even greater powers, and abolished the traditional kingdoms.
On January 25, 1971, Obote's government was ousted in a military coup led by armed
forces commander Idi Amin Dada. Amin declared himself president, dissolved the
parliament, and amended the constitution to give himself absolute power.
Idi Amin's 8-year rule produced economic decline, social disintegration, and
massive human rights violations. The Acholi and Langi tribes were particular objects
of Amin's political persecution because Obote and many of his supporters belonged
to those tribes and constituted the largest group in the army. In 1978, the International
Commission of Jurists estimated that more than 100,000 Ugandans had been murdered
during Amin's reign of terror; some authorities place the figure much higher.
In October 1978, Tanzanian armed forces repulsed an incursion of Amin's troops
into Tanzanian territory. The Tanzanian force, backed by Ugandan exiles, waged
a war of liberation against Amin's troops and Libyan soldiers sent to help him.
On April 11, 1979, Kampala was captured, and Amin fled with his remaining forces.
After Amin's removal, the Uganda National Liberation Front formed an interim
government with Yusuf Lule as president. This government adopted a ministerial
system of administration and created a quasi-parliamentary organ known as the
National Consultative Commission (NCC). The NCC and the Lule cabinet reflected
widely differing political views. In June 1979, following a dispute over the extent
of presidential powers, the NCC replaced President Lule with Godfrey Binaisa.
In a continuing dispute over the powers of the interim presidency, Binaisa was
removed in May 1980. Thereafter, Uganda was ruled by a military commission chaired
by Paulo Muwanga. The December 1980 elections returned the UPC to power under
the leadership of President Obote, with Muwanga serving as vice president. Under
Obote, the security forces had one of the world's worst human rights records.
In their efforts to stamp out an insurgency led by Yoweri Museveni's National
Resistance Army (NRA), they lay waste to a substantial section of the country,
especially in the Luwero area north of Kampala.
Obote ruled until July 27, 1985, when an army brigade, composed mostly of Acholi
troops and commanded by Lt. Gen. Basilio Olara-Okello, took Kampala and proclaimed
a military government. Obote fled to exile in Zambia. The new regime, headed by
former defense force commander Gen. Tito Okello (no relation to Lt. Gen. Olara-Okello),
opened negotiations with the insurgent forces of Yoweri Museveni and pledged to
improve respect for human rights, end tribal rivalry, and conduct free and fair
elections. In the meantime, massive human rights violations continued as the Okello
government murdered civilians and ravaged the countryside in order to destroy
the NRA's support.
Negotiations between the Okello government and the NRA were conducted in Nairobi
in the fall of 1985, with Kenyan President Daniel Moi seeking a cease-fire and
a coalition government in Uganda. Although agreeing in late 1985 to a cease-fire,
the NRA continued fighting, seized Kampala in late January 1986, and assumed control
of the country, forcing Okello to flee north into Sudan. Museveni's forces organized
a government with Museveni as president.
Since assuming power, the government dominated by the political grouping created
by Museveni and his followers, the National Resistance Movement (NRM), has largely
put an end to the human rights abuses of earlier governments, overseen the successful
efforts of a human rights commission established to investigate previous abuses,
initiated substantial political liberalization and general press freedom, and
instituted broad economic reforms after consultation with the International Monetary
Fund (IMF), World Bank, and donor governments. A constitutional commission was
named to draft a new constitution, which was debated and ratified by a popularly
elected constituent assembly on July 12, 1995, and promulgated by President Museveni
on October 8, 1995.
Under the transitional provisions of the new constitution, the "movement system"
will continue for 5 years, including explicit restrictions on activities of political
parties, which are nonetheless active. The Constitution also called for a referendum
in 2000 to determine whether or not Uganda will adopt a multi-party system of
democracy. The referendum was held in March 2000 and by a margin of 70% voters
asked to keep the Movement system; the referendum was widely criticized for its
low voter turnout and lack of a level playing field.
Insurgent groups--the largest (Lord's Resistance Army) of which used to receive
support from Sudan--harass government forces and murder and kidnap civilians in
the north and west. They do not, however, threaten the stability of the government.
Uganda resumed diplomatic relations with Sudan in 2001, agreeing to reopen missions
and exchange diplomats up to the Charge level. The two countries are now planning
to resume full diplomatic relations and exchange ambassadors.
In 1998, Uganda deployed a sizable military force to eastern Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC), ostensibly to prevent attacks from Ugandan rebel groups operating
from bases in eastern DRC, the treat from which has largely been contained..
Culture
Uganda's population is made up of a complex and diverse range of
tribes. Lake Kyogo forms the northern boundary for the Bantu-speaking
peoples, who dominate much of east, central and southern Africa.
In Uganda they include the Baganda and several other tribes. In
the north live the Lango and the Acholi, who speak Nilotic languages.
To the east are the Teso and Karamojong, who are related to the
Maasai and who also speak Nilotic languages. Pygmies live in the
forests of the west. Each tribe has its musical history; songs are
passed down from generation to generation. Ndigindi (lyre), entongoli
(harp), amadinda (xylophone) and lukeme (thumb piano) are commonly
played instruments. An Acholi, Okot p'Bitek, is one of Uganda's
most famous writers of folklore, satirical poems and songs. His
book Song of Lawino (1966) describes the stories told in Acholi
songs.
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