"Oh Uganda, Land of Beauty" is the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

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 ...

George Wilberforce Kakoma George Wilberforce Kakoma (27 July 1923 – 8 April 2012) was a Ugandan musician who wrote and composed " The Pearl of Africa", Uganda's national anthem. Kakoma's composition was first played publicly by the Police Band conducted by Mr. Moon on Oc ...

composed the music and authored the lyrics. It was adopted as the national anthem in 1962, when the country gained independence from the United Kingdom. It is musically one of the shortest national anthems in the world. Consequently, multiple verses are sung when it is performed in public.

History

From 1894 until the height of

decolonisation Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on separatism, in ...

during the 1960s,

was a

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over m ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

within its colonial empire. In the run up to independence, a subcommittee was formed to determine an anthem for the forthcoming state. It proceeded to hold a nationwide contest, with the criteria they stipulated for the anthem being that it should be "short, original, solemn, praising and looking forward to the future". In the end, the lyrics and tune composed by

were selected in July 1962. He wrote the anthem in one day, having listened on

Radio Uganda Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) is the public broadcaster network of Uganda. It was founded as a result of the "Uganda Broadcasting Corporation Act, 2004", which merged the operations of Uganda Television (UTV) and Radio Uganda. It started ...

the night before about how none of the entries received so far had been deemed suitable by the subcommittee. His entry was one of four that was shortlisted. The song was officially adopted in 1962, the year the country gained independence. The first public occasion where the anthem was played was at the celebrations marking independence on 9 October 1962. Kakoma subsequently sued the government in 2008, claiming that he was never adequately remunerated and thus had rights to over four decades of

royalty payment A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

s. He alleged that the government gave him a mere USh.2,000/=, equivalent to less than £1 in 2008, as a "token of thanks". Kakoma died before the country's Court of Appeal dismissed the case in 2019, finding that the anthem's copyright vested in the government and not the author.

Lyrics

Composition

At only eight bars long, "Oh Uganda, Land of Beauty" is musically one of the shortest national anthems in the world, together with Japan's anthem. Both Michael Bristow, the editor of the book ''National Anthems of the World'', and Philip Sheppard have identified Uganda's national anthem as the shortest. As a result, multiple verses are typically sung when it is performed at public events like international football games.

Notes

References

External links

Uganda: ''Oh Uganda, Land of Beauty'' - Audio of the national anthem of Uganda, with information and lyricsarchive link

''Pearl of Africa'' MIDI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oh Uganda, Land Of Beauty Ugandan music National symbols of Uganda African anthems National anthem compositions in F-sharp major National anthem compositions in G major Songs involved in royalties controversies 1962 songs