The Conservative Party (CP) is a

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

. It is led by Ken Lukyamuzi.

History

The Conservative Party serves as ''de facto'' successor to

Kabaka Yekka Kabaka Yekka, commonly abbreviated as KY, was a monarchist political movement and party in Uganda. ''Kabaka Yekka'' means 'king only' in the Ganda language, Kabaka being the title of the King in the kingdom of Buganda. History Formation I ...

, a

Baganda The Ganda people, or Baganda (endonym: ''Baganda''; singular ''Muganda''), are a Bantu ethnic group native to Buganda, a subnational kingdom within Uganda. Traditionally composed of 52 clans (although since a 1993 survey, only 46 are official ...

political party and movement that had been loyal to the Buganda monarchy and operated directly after Uganda's independence. Kabaka Yekka and the Buganda kingdom were forcibly disbanded during the

Mengo Crisis The Buganda Crisis, also called the 1966 Mengo Crisis, the Kabaka Crisis, or the 1966 Crisis, domestically, was a period of political turmoil that occurred in Buganda. It was driven by conflict between Prime Minister Milton Obote and the Kabaka ...

of 1966. The prime minister ( Katikkiro) for Buganda,

Jehoash Mayanja Nkangi Jehoash Ssibakyalyawo Mayanja Nkangi or Joash Mayanja Nkangi (22 August 1932 – 6 March 2017) was a Ugandan lawyer, civil servant and politician. At the time of his death, he was the immediate past chairman of the Uganda Land Commission. He ...

, consequently fled abroad. As former member of Kabaka Yekka's youth wing, Nkangi organized the Conservative Party in exile; thus, 1966 is regarded as the party's traditional foundation date. However, the party only became truly active from 1979 or 1980 onwards. By the time of its foundation, the CP generally followed similar principles as Kabaka Yekka. Overall, its political aims were not well defined; it only called for the restoration of Uganda's 1962 constitution and the decentralization of political power in the country. The party was considered monarchist, as one of its main objective was to protect Uganda's traditional rulers. Regardless, it did not emphasize its connection to Baganda royalists. The CP was one of the four parties to register for the

1980 Ugandan general election General elections were held in Uganda on 10 and 11 December 1980. They followed the overthrow of Idi Amin the previous year and were the first since the pre-independence elections in 1962 Ugandan general election, 1962. The result was a victory f ...

, but remained a minor force. It lacked funding, had no paramilitary wing like other Ugandan parties, and possessed no firm party organization. In fact, many Baganda monarchists preferred to join the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

(DP), as they believed that the Conservative Party could not win the election. While campaigning in 1980, the party claimed that its supporters were harassed by the

Uganda People's Congress The Uganda People's Congress (UPC; sw, Congress ya Watu wa Uganda) is a political party in Uganda. UPC was founded in 1960 by Milton Obote, who led the country to independence and later served two presidential terms under the party's banner ...

(UPC) and DP. The CP failed to win any seats during the 1980 election. In the next decades, the CP remained a marginal group, while Ugandan came under the control of a succession of authoritarian governments. Regardless, Nkangi became an influential figure and was appointed as minister by several Ugandan regimes. By the early 1990s, the CP increasingly voiced its support for Kabaka Yekka's traditional aims. In 1993, the long-held ambition by the monarchists to restore the Buganda kingdom was fulfilled. Nkangi played an important role in the restoration. The CP was affected by factionalism during the early 2000s, with notable factions led by Nkangi, and Makindye West MP Nsubuga Nsambu respectively. Nkangi initially reconciled with the rest of the CP under secretary general Ken Lukyamuzi in July 2003, but was ousted from his position as president-general of the party in November of that year. Nsambu and Lukyamuzi claimed that Nkangi had become too close to the ruling government 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 no longer followed the CP's ideology. Nsambu was consequently declared interim party president. Internal disputes continued until 2005, when Nkangi officially agreed to pass the leadership of the CP to Lukyamuzi. In the general election of 23 February 2006, the party won 1 out of 289 elected seats. The Conservative Party supported presidential candidate Kizza Besigye during the general election of 2016. CP president Lukyamuzi attended the foundation ceremony for the Alliance for National Transformation in 2019. The CP ran with two parliamentary candidates during the

2021 Ugandan general election General elections were held in Uganda on 14 January 2021 to elect the President and the Parliament. The Electoral Commission announced Incumbent President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the country since 1986, as the winner with 58.64% of the v ...

, but failed to win any seats.

Ideology

The Conservative Party is described as

. The party places great importance in Ugandan traditions and customs, and is regarded as monarchist due to its support for the traditional rulers. It has proposed the decentralization and federalisation of Uganda, arguing that the country was formed as a union of different peoples. As these ideas have gradually become more popular in Uganda, other parties have adopted them as well, leaving the CP marginalized. The party has consequently begun to focus more on

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

, and presents itself as advocate for the rural poor, against special privileges, and against corruption. It also supports the sustainable use of Uganda's forests and bodies of water, and has campaigned for the protection of the environment.

References

Citations

Works cited

* * * * {{Ugandan political parties Conservative parties in Africa Political parties in Uganda