The history of Uganda comprises the history of the people who inhabited the territory of present-day
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
before the establishment of the Republic of Uganda, and the history of that country once it was established. Evidence from the
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
era shows humans have inhabited Uganda for at least 50,000 years. The forests of Uganda were gradually cleared for agriculture by people who probably spoke
Central Sudanic languages
Central Sudanic is a family of about sixty languages that have been included in the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family. Central Sudanic languages are spoken in the Central African Republic, Chad, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo (DRC), Nigeria and ...
.
In 1894, Uganda became a protectorate of the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
, and in 1962 the United Kingdom granted independence to Uganda making Sir
Edward Muteesa Walugembe the first
President of Uganda
The president of the Republic of Uganda is the head of state and the head of government of Uganda. The president leads the executive branch of the government of Uganda and is the commander-in-chief of the Uganda People's Defence Force.
The ...
and
Kabaka of Buganda
the kabaka Palace in kireka
Kabaka is the title of the king of the Kingdom of Buganda.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, According to the traditions of the Baganda they are ruled by two kings, one spiritual an ...
.
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...
deposed
Deposition by political means concerns the removal of a politician or monarch.
ORB: The Online Reference for Med ...
Milton Obote
Apollo Milton Obote (28 December 1925 – 10 October 2005) was a Ugandan political leader who led Uganda to independence from British colonial rule in 1962. Following the nation's independence, he served as prime minister of Uganda from 1962 to ...
to became ruler of Uganda in 1971, a position he would occupy for eight years until he was ousted in 1979 as a result of the
Uganda-Tanzania War. After a series of other leaders since Amin's fall,
Yoweri Museveni
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...
came to power in 1986 and has led Uganda since that time.
Pre-colonial period
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
evidence of human activity in Uganda goes back to at least 50,000 years, and perhaps as far as 100,000 years, as shown by the
Acheulean
Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French ''acheuléen'' after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated ...
stone tools recovered from the former environs of
Lake Victoria, which were exposed along the
Kagera River
The Kagera River, also known as Akagera River, or Alexandra Nile, is an East African river, forming part of the upper headwaters of the Nile and carrying water from its most distant source.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G ...
valley, chiefly around Nsonezi.
The cultivators who gradually cleared the forest were probably
Bantu
Bantu may refer to:
*Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages
*Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language
* Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle
*Black Association for National ...
-speaking people, whose slow but inexorable expansion gradually took over most of
sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
. They also raised goats and chickens, and they probably kept some cattle by 400 BCE. Their knowledge of agriculture and use of iron-forging technology permitted them to clear the land and feed ever larger numbers of settlers. They displaced small bands of
indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
hunter-gatherer
A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...
s, who relocated to the less accessible mountains.
[Rita M. Byrnes, ed]
Uganda: A Country Study
. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1990. p. 4
Meanwhile, by the first century CE and possibly as early as the fourth century BCE in Western
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
, certain related Bantu-speaking
metallurgist
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys.
Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...
s were perfecting iron
smelting
Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a ch ...
to produce medium grade
carbon steel
Carbon steel is a steel with carbon content from about 0.05 up to 2.1 percent by weight. The definition of carbon steel from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) states:
* no minimum content is specified or required for chromium, cobalt ...
in pre-heated forced-draught furnaces. Although most of these developments were taking place southwest of modern Ugandan boundaries, iron was mined and smelted in many parts of the country not long afterward.
Protectorate (1894–1961)
In the 1890s, 32,000 labourers from
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
were
recruited to East Africa under
indentured labour
Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an "indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensation or debt repayment, ...
contracts to construct the
Uganda Railway
The Uganda Railway was a metre-gauge railway system and former British state-owned railway company. The line linked the interiors of Uganda and Kenya with the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa in Kenya. After a series of mergers and splits, the lin ...
. Most of the surviving Indians returned home, but 6,724 decided to remain in
East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
after the line's completion. Subsequently, some became traders and took control of
cotton gin
A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...
ning and sartorial retail.
From 1900 to 1920, a
sleeping sickness
African trypanosomiasis, also known as African sleeping sickness or simply sleeping sickness, is an insect-borne parasitic infection of humans and other animals. It is caused by the species ''Trypanosoma brucei''. Humans are infected by two typ ...
epidemic
An epidemic (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time.
Epidemics ...
in the southern part of Uganda, along the north shores of Lake Victoria, killed more than 250,000 people.
Early independent Uganda (1962–71)
Britain granted independence to Uganda in 1962, although elections leading to internal self-governance were held on 1 March 1961.
Benedicto Kiwanuka of the Democratic Party became the first chief minister.
Milton Obote
Apollo Milton Obote (28 December 1925 – 10 October 2005) was a Ugandan political leader who led Uganda to independence from British colonial rule in 1962. Following the nation's independence, he served as prime minister of Uganda from 1962 to ...
was elected Prime Minister in April 1962 and Uganda became a republic in October 1962, maintaining 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
Milton Obote
Apollo Milton Obote (28 December 1925 – 10 October 2005) was a Ugandan political leader who led Uganda to independence from British colonial rule in 1962. Following the nation's independence, he served as prime minister of Uganda from 1962 to ...
, the
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
, suspended the constitution and assumed all government powers, removing the positions of
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
and
vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
. In September 1967, a new constitution proclaimed Uganda a republic, gave the president even greater powers, and abolished the traditional kingdoms.
Uganda under Idi Amin (1971–79)
After a
military coup on 25 January 1971, Obote was deposed from power and the dictator
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...
seized control of the country. Amin ruled Uganda with the military for the next eight years
["A Country Study: Uganda"](_blank)
, ''Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
Country Studies'' and carried out mass killings within the country to maintain his rule.
In 1972, under the so-called "Africanization" policy under
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...
, about 40,000
ethnic Indians with
British passports were forced to leave Uganda. Approximately 7,000 were invited to
settle in Canada; however, only a limited number accepted the offer, and the
2006 census
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...
reported 3,300 people of Ugandan origin in Canada. The loss of the entrepreneurial
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
minority left the country's economy in ruins.
Amin's eight-year rule produced
economic
An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...
decline, social disintegration, and massive
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
violations. The
Acholi and
Langi ethnic group
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
s in northern Uganda were particular objects of Amin's political persecution because they had supported Obote and made up a large part of the army. In 1978, the
International Commission of Jurists estimated that more than 100,000 Ugandans had been
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
ed during Amin's reign of terror. Some authorities placed the figure as high as 300,000 — a statistic cited at the end of the 2006 movie ''
The Last King of Scotland
''The Last King of Scotland'' is a novel by journalist Giles Foden,
published by Faber and Faber in 1998. Focusing on the rise of Ugandan President Idi Amin and his reign as dictator from 1971 to 1979, the novel, which interweaves fiction an ...
'', which chronicled part of Amin's
dictatorship
A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship are ...
. Amin's atrocities were graphically recounted in the 1977 book, ''A State of Blood,'' written by one of his former ministers after he fled the country,
Henry Kyemba
Henry Kisaja Magumba Kyemba (simply known as Henry Kyemba likely born 1937-1939) is a Ugandan retired political figure who held several high positions and finally became Minister of Health during Uganda's rule by Idi Amin. He served in that post ...
.
Amin's rule ended after the
Uganda-Tanzania War in which Tanzanian forces aided by Ugandan exiles invaded Uganda. The conflict started with a border altercation involving Ugandan exiles who had a camp close to the Ugandan border near Mutukula. This resulted in an attack by the Ugandan Army into Tanzania. In October 1978, the
Tanzanian Armed Forces repulsed this incursion and, backed by Ugandan exiles, invaded Uganda. Amin's troops were assisted by
Libyan soldier
The Libyan Army ( ar, الجيش الليبي) is the brand for a number of separate military forces in Libya, which are under the command of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).
Since December 2015 the groups of t ...
s. On 11 April 1979, the capital
Kampala
Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...
was captured and Amin fled with his remaining forces to Libya.
Uganda since 1979
After Amin's removal, the Uganda National Liberation Front formed an interim government with
Yusuf Lule
Yusuf Kironde Lule (10 April 1912 – 21 January 1985) was a Ugandan professor and civil servant who served as the fourth president of Uganda between 13 April and 20 June 1979.
Early life
Yusuf Lule was born on 10 April 1912 in Kampala."Lule, ...
as president and
Jeremiah Lucas Opira as the Secretary-General of the UNLF. 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 Lule with
Godfrey Binaisa
Godfrey Lukongwa Binaisa QC (30 May 1920 – 5 August 2010) was a Ugandan lawyer who was Attorney General of Uganda from 1962 to 1968 and later served as the fifth president of Uganda from June 1979 to May 1980. At his death he was Uganda's onl ...
.
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
Paulo Frobisher Muwanga Seddugge Muyanja (4 April 1924 – 1 April 1991) was a Ugandan politician who served briefly as ''de facto'' president, and later as prime minister, of Uganda.
Career
Paulo Frobisher Muwanga Seddugge Muyanja was born in ...
. The December 1980 elections returned the UPC to power under Milton Obote's leadership, 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
An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregu ...
led by
Yoweri Museveni
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...
, they laid waste to a substantial section of the country, especially in the Luwero area north of
Kampala
Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...
.
The insurgency, the so-called "
bush war", was conducted by the
National Resistance Army
The National Resistance Army (NRA), the military wing of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), was a rebel army that waged a guerrilla war, commonly referred to as the Ugandan Bush War or Luwero War, against the government of Milton Obote, and l ...
(NRA), under the leadership of
Yoweri Museveni
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...
, and other rebel groups including the Federal Democratic Movement led by Andrew Kayiira and another led by John Nkwaanga. During the conflict the army carried out mass killings of non-combatants.
Obote was overthrown on 27 July 1985, when an army brigade, composed mostly of ethnic Acholi troops and commanded by Lt. Gen.
Bazilio Olara-Okello
Bazilio Olara-Okello (1929 – 9 January 1990) was a Ugandan military officer and one of the commanders of the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) that together with the Tanzanian army organized the coup d'état that overthrew Idi Amin ...
, took Kampala and proclaimed a military government. Obote fled to exile in
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
. The new regime, headed by former defense force commander Gen.
Tito Okello
Tito Lutwa Okello (1914 – 3 June 1996) was a Ugandan military officer and politician. He was the eighth president of Uganda from 29 July 1985 until 26 January 1986.
Background
Tito Okello was born into an ethnic Acholi family in circa 1914 ...
(no relation to Lt. Gen. Olara-Okello), opened negotiations with Museveni's insurgent forces 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 carried out a brutal
counter-insurgency
Counterinsurgency (COIN) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the activities of guerrillas or revolutionar ...
in an attempt to destroy the NRA's support.
Negotiations between the Okello government and the NRA were conducted in
Nairobi
Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...
in the fall of 1985, with
Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi
Daniel Toroitich arap Moi ( ; 2 September 1924 – 4 February 2020) was a Kenyan politician who served as the second president of Kenya from 1978 to 2002. He was the country's longest-serving president. Moi previously served as the third vice ...
seeking a
ceasefire
A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
and a
coalition government
A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
in Uganda. Although agreeing in late 1985 to a ceasefire, the NRA continued fighting and seized Kampala and the country in late January 1986, forcing Okello's forces to flee north into
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
. Museveni's forces organized a government with Museveni as president.
After assuming power, the government dominated by the political grouping created by Museveni and his followers, the
National Resistance Movement
The National Resistance Movement ( sw, Harakati za Upinzani za Kitaifa; abbr. NRM) has been the ruling party in Uganda since 1986.
History
The National Resistance Movement (NRM) was founded as a liberation movement that waged a guerrilla ...
(NRM or the "Movement"), largely put an end to the human rights abuses of earlier governments, initiated substantial political liberalization and general press freedom, and instituted broad economic reforms after consultation with the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and donor governments.
However, from 1986 to 1994, a variety of rebel groups waged a civil war against the Ugandan government of President Museveni. Most of the fighting took place in the country's north and east, although the western and central regions were also affected. The most important insurgent factions were the Uganda People's Democratic Army (UPDA), the Uganda People's Army (UPA), Alice Auma's Holy Spirit Movement (HSM), and Joseph Kony's army (which later became the Lord's Resistance Army). For further details see
War in Uganda (1986-1994).
In 1996, Uganda was a key supporter of the overthrow of
Zaire
Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...
an President
Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...
in the
First Congo War
The First Congo War, group=lower-alpha (1996–1997), also nicknamed Africa's First World War, was a civil war and international military conflict which took place mostly in Zaire (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo), with major spillo ...
in favor of rebel leader
Laurent-Désiré Kabila
Laurent-Désiré Kabila () (27 November 1939 – 18 January 2001) or simply Laurent Kabila ( US: ), was a Congolese revolutionary and politician who was the third President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1997 until his assassinatio ...
.
21st century
Between 1998 and 2003, the
Ugandan Army was involved in the
Second Congo War in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
. Uganda continues to support rebel groups there such as the
Movement for the Liberation of Congo
The Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (french: Mouvement de Libération du Congo, or MLC) is a political party in Democratic Republic of the Congo. Formerly a rebel group operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo that fought the govern ...
and some factions of the
Rally for Congolese Democracy
The Congolese Rally for Democracy (french: Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie; abbreviated RCD), also known as the Rally for Congolese Democracy, is a political party and a former rebel group that operated in the eastern region of the ...
.
August 2005,
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
voted to change the
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
to lift presidential term limits, allowing Museveni to run for a third term if he wished to do so. In a
referendum in July 2005, 92.5 percent of voters supported the restoration of multiparty politics, thereby scrapping the no-party or "movement" system.
Kizza Besigye
Warren Kizza Besigye Kifefe (born 22 April 1956), known as Colonel. Dr. Kizza Besigye, is a Ugandan physician, politician, and former military officer in the Uganda People's Defence Force. He served as the president of the Forum for Democrati ...
, Museveni's political rival, returned from exile in October 2005 and was a presidential candidate during the 2006 elections. In the same month, Obote died in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. Museveni won the February 2006 presidential election.
In 2009, the
Anti-Homosexuality Bill was proposed and under consideration.
It was proposed on 13 October 2009 by
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
David Bahati
David Bahati (born 8 June 1973) is a Ugandan accountant and politician. He is the Minister of State for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives in the Cabinet of Uganda. He was appointed to that position in a cabinet reshuffle on 9 June 2021. He was ...
and, had it been enacted, would have broadened the criminalization of
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
in Uganda; introduced the
death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
for people who have previous convictions, are
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
-positive, or engage in sexual acts with those under 18; introduced
extradition
Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...
for those engaging in same-sex sexual relations outside Uganda; and, penalized individuals, companies, media organizations, or
non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
s who supported
LGBT rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , 33 ...
.
On 11 July 2010,
al-Shabaab bombers
killed 74 people in
Kampala
Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...
. On 13 September 2014, the Ugandan security and
intelligence service
An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives.
Means of informatio ...
s, with the assistance of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, identified and foiled a major
terrorist
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
attack in Kampala. They recovered
suicide vest
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and subs ...
s,
improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...
s, and
small arms
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions).
The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...
, and they arrested 19 people who were suspected to have had links to al-Shabaab.
This attack could have been as substantial as the
attack in Nairobi during the previous year at
Westgate Mall. Instead, it was a failure for al-Shabaab.
The
2016 Ugandan general election was held in Uganda on 18 February 2016 to elect the president and parliament. Polling day was declared a national holiday.
["Uganda elections polling date set on Feb 18, 2016"]
, ''New Vision'', 4 November 2015. Ahead of the election, Museveni described the formation of an
East African Federation
The East African Federation ( sw, Shirikisho la Afrika Mashariki) is a proposed political union of the seven sovereign states of the East African Community in the African Great Lakes region Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, ...
uniting Uganda,
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
,
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
,
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
,
Burundi
Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...
, and
South Sudan
South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...
as "the number one target that we should aim at." In September 2018 a committee was formed to begin the process of drafting a regional constitution,
and a draft constitution for a confederation is set to be written by 2021, with implementation of the confederacy by 2023.
The
2021 Ugandan general election re-elected president Museveni to a sixth term, but international observers complained of government violence and disinformation, suppression of independent media and opposition campaigning, the arrest of opposition leaders, the shutdown of the Internet, and harassment of observers. According to official results, Museveni won the elections with 58% of the vote while popstar-turned-politician
Bobi Wine
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, known by his stage name Bobi Wine, is a Ugandan politician, singer, and actor. He is a former Member of Parliament for Kyadondo County East constituency in Wakiso District, in Uganda's Central Region. He also lead ...
had 35%. The opposition challenged the result because of allegations of widespread fraud and irregularities.
See also
*
Empire of Kitara
The Kingdom of the Banyakitara, also known as Union of Kitara (Union of Chwezi) or Chwezi Union, and better known as the Kitara Empire, was an empire in East Africa. It existed in the region from around the early bronze age to about 500 C.E. ...
*
Early History of Uganda
*
History of East Africa
The history of East Africa has been divided into its prehistory, the major polities flourishing, the colonial period, and the post-colonial period, in which the current nations were formed. East Africa is the eastern region of Africa, bordered b ...
*
History of Africa
The history of Africa begins with the emergence of hominids, archaic humans and — around 300–250,000 years ago—anatomically modern humans (''Homo sapiens''), in East Africa, and continues unbroken into the present as a patchwork of d ...
*
History of Buganda
The history of Buganda is that of the Buganda kingdom of the Baganda people, the largest of the traditional kingdoms in present-day Uganda.
Pre-colonial and colonial Buganda
Originally a vassal state of Bunyoro, Buganda grew rapidly in pow ...
*
Luo (family of ethnic groups)
*
Military History of Uganda
*
Politics of Uganda
Uganda is a presidential republic in which the President of Uganda is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government business. There is a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is ...
*
Rock art of Uganda
Within the African nation of Uganda there is rock art that "sits within a broad geometric rock art belt straddling East and Central Africa." More specifically, "In Uganda, rock art is mostly concentrated in eastern part of the country, especially ...
* Kampala
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
and
timeline
A timeline is a display of a list of events in chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events.
Timelines can use any suitable scale representi ...
Notes
References
*
*U.S. State Departmen
Background Note: Uganda African Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania
Bunyoro-Kitara website
*
Further reading
* Amone, Charles, and Okullu Muura. "British Colonialism and the Creation of Acholi Ethnic Identity in Uganda, 1894 to 1962." ''Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History'' 42.2 (2014): 239-257.
* Clarke, Ian, ed. ''Uganda - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture'' (2014
excerpt* Griffiths, Tudor. “Bishop Alfred Tucker and the Establishment of a British Protectorate in Uganda 1890-94.” ''Journal of Religion in Africa'' 31#1 2001, pp. 92–114
online
* Hansen, Holger Bernt. "Uganda in the 1970s: a decade of paradoxes and ambiguities". ''Journal of Eastern African Studies'' (2013) 7#1: 83–103. doi:10.1080/17531055.2012.755315.
* Hansen, H. B., and M. Twaddle, eds. ''Developing Uganda'' (Ohio University Press, 1998).
* Ibingira, G. S. ''The Forging of an African Nation: The Political and Constitutional Evolution of Uganda from Colonial Rule to Independence, 1894–1962'' (Viking, 1980)
* Jørgensen, Jan Jelmert, ''Uganda: a modern history'' (1981
online* Karugire, S. R. ''The History of Nkore - A History of the Kingdom of Nkore in Western Uganda to 1896.'' (Clarendon Press, 1971).
* Kasozi, A. B. K. ''The Social Origins of Violence in Uganda'' (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1994)
* Martel, Gordon. "Cabinet politics and African partition: The Uganda debate reconsidered." ''Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History'' 13.1 (1984): 5-24.
* Mutibwa, Phares Mukasa. ''Uganda since independence: a story of unfulfilled hopes'' (Africa World Press, 1992).
* Ofcansky, Thomas P. ''Uganda: tarnished pearl of Africa'' (Westview press, 1999).
* Omara-Otunnu, Amii. ''Politics and the Military in Uganda, 1890–1985'' (Springer, 1987).
* Reid, Richard J. ''A history of modern Uganda'' (Cambridge University Press, 2017), the standard scholarly history
online* Reid, Andrew. "Constructing history in Uganda." ''Journal of African History'' 57.2 (2016): 195-207
online focus on Historical Archaeology
* Reuss, Anna. "Forever vanguards of the revolution: the Uganda People’s Defence Forces’ liberation legacy, 30 years on." ''Journal of Eastern African Studies'' 14.2 (2020): 250-269.
* Sejjaaka, Samuel. "A political and economic history of Uganda, 1962–2002." in ''International Businesses and the Challenges of Poverty in the Developing World'' (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2004) pp. 98-110
online* Ssekamwa, J.C. ''History and Development of Education in Uganda'' (Fountain Publishers, 1997).
* Stephens, Rhiannon. ''A history of African motherhood: The case of Uganda, 700-1900'' (Cambridge University Press, 2013).
* Thompson, G. ''Governing Uganda: British Colonial Rule and Its Legacy'' (Kampala: Fountain Publishers, 2003).
* Twaddle, Michael. "The Bakungu chiefs of Buganda under British colonial rule, 1900–1930." ''Journal of African History'' 10#2 (1969): 309-322.
* Ward, Kevin. "A history of Christianity in Uganda." in ''From mission to church: A handbook of christianity in East Africa'' (1991): 81-11
online
* Willis, J. "Killing Bwana: peasant revenge and political panic in Early Colonial Ankole" ''Journal of African History'', 35 (1994), 379-400.
* Wrigley, C. ''Kingship and State: the Buganda dynasty'' (Cambridge UP, 1996),
*
Primary sources
* Tucker, Alfred R. ''Eighteen Years in Uganda and East Africa'' (London: Edward Arnold, 1908)
online
{{Africa topic, History of