The
history of Uganda
comprises the history of the people who inhabited the territory of present-day
Uganda
before the establishment of the Republic of Uganda, and the history of that country once it was established. Evidence from the
Paleolithic
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
.......
The
Empire of Kitara
grew out of the
Urewe culture
in the 10th century. Following the migration and invasion of
Luo peoples
c. 15th century, Kitara would collapse, and from the ashes rose various Biito kingdoms such as
Bunyoro
alongside
Buganda
.
[
citation needed
]
In 1894, Uganda became a protectorate of the
British Empire
, and in 1962 the United Kingdom granted independence to Uganda making Sir
Edward Muteesa
II of
Edward Muteesa Walugembe
the first
President of Uganda
and
Kabaka of Buganda
.
Idi Amin
deposed
Milton Obote
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
came to power in 1986 and has led Uganda since that time.
Pre-colonial period
[
edit
]
Paleolithic
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
stone tools recovered from the former environs of
Lake Victoria
, which were exposed along the
Kagera River
valley, chiefly around Nsonezi.
[1]
The cultivators who gradually cleared the forest were probably
Bantu
-speaking people, whose slow but inexorable expansion gradually took over most of
sub-Saharan Africa
. 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
hunter-gatherers
, who relocated to the less accessible mountains.
[2]
Meanwhile, by the first century CE and possibly as early as the fourth century BCE in Western
Tanzania
, certain related Bantu-speaking
metallurgists
were perfecting iron
smelting
to produce medium grade
carbon steel
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.
[2]
Protectorate (1894?1961)
[
edit
]
In the 1890s, 32,000 labourers from
British India
were
recruited to East Africa
under
indentured labour
contracts to construct the
Uganda Railway
.
[3]
Most of the surviving Indians returned home, but 6,724 decided to remain in
East Africa
after the line's completion.
[4]
Subsequently, some became traders and took control of
cotton ginning
and sartorial retail.
[5]
From 1900 to 1920, a
sleeping sickness
epidemic
in the southern part of Uganda, along the north shores of Lake Victoria, killed more than 250,000 people.
[6]
British administrators like
George Wilson CB
attempted to address the serious scale of the public health crisis in the intervening years.
Early independent Uganda (1962?71)
[
edit
]
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
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
, the
Prime Minister
, suspended the constitution and assumed all government powers, removing the positions of
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.
Uganda under Idi Amin (1971?79)
[
edit
]
After a
military coup on 25 January 1971
, Obote was deposed from power and the dictator
Idi Amin
seized control of the country. Amin ruled Uganda with the military for the next eight years
[7]
In 1972, under the so-called "Africanization" policy under
Idi Amin
, 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
reported 3,300 people of Ugandan origin in Canada. The loss of the entrepreneurial
Indian
minority left the country's economy in ruins.
[8]
Amin's eight-year rule produced
economic growth
. The
Acholi
and
Langi
ethnic groups
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.
[9]
In 1978, the
International Commission of Jurists
? a statistic cited at the end of the 2006 movie
The Last King of Scotland
, which chronicled part of Amin's
dictatorship
. 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
.
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 soldiers
. On 11 April 1979, the capital
Kampala
was captured and Amin fled with his remaining forces to Libya.
Uganda since 1979
[
edit
]
After Amin's removal, the Uganda National Liberation Front formed an interim government with
Yusuf 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
.
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 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
led by
Yoweri Museveni
, they laid waste to a substantial section of the country, especially in the Luwero area north of
Kampala
.
The insurgency, the so-called "
bush war
", was conducted by the
National Resistance Army
(NRA), under the leadership of
Yoweri Museveni
, 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.
[10]
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
, 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 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
in an attempt 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 arap Moi
seeking a
ceasefire
and a
coalition government
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
. 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
(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
Zairean
President
Mobutu Sese Seko
in the
First Congo War
in favor of rebel leader
Laurent-Desire Kabila
.
21st century
[
edit
]
Between 1998 and 2003, the
Ugandan Army
was involved in the
Second Congo War
in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
.
[
citation needed
]
Uganda continues to support rebel groups there such as the
Movement for the Liberation of Congo
and some factions of the
Rally for Congolese Democracy
.
[
citation needed
]
August 2005,
Parliament
voted to change the
constitution
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
, 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
. Museveni won the February 2006 presidential election.
In 2009, the
Anti-Homosexuality Bill
was proposed and under consideration.
[11]
It was proposed on 13 October 2009 by
Member of Parliament
David Bahati
and, had it been enacted, would have broadened the criminalization of
homosexuality
in Uganda; introduced the
death penalty
for people who have previous convictions, are
HIV
-positive, or engage in sexual acts with those under 18;
[12]
introduced
extradition
for those engaging in same-sex sexual relations outside Uganda; and, penalized individuals, companies, media organizations, or
non-governmental organizations
who supported
LGBT rights
.
[
citation needed
]
On 11 July 2010,
al-Shabaab
bombers
killed 74 people
in
Kampala
. On 13 September 2014, the Ugandan security and
intelligence services
, with the assistance of the
United States
, identified and foiled a major
terrorist
attack in Kampala. They recovered
suicide vests
,
improvised explosive devices
, and
small arms
, and they arrested 19 people who were suspected to have had links to al-Shabaab.
[13]
[14]
[15]
This attack could have been as substantial as the
attack in Nairobi
during the previous year at
Westgate Mall
.
[16]
Instead, it was a failure for al-Shabaab.
[13]
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.
[17]
[18]
Ahead of the election, Museveni described the formation of an
East African Federation
uniting Uganda,
Tanzania
,
Kenya
,
Rwanda
,
Burundi
, and
South Sudan
as "the number one target that we should aim at."
[19]
In September 2018 a committee was formed to begin the process of drafting a regional constitution,
[20]
and a draft constitution for a confederation is set to be written by 2021, with implementation of the confederacy by 2023.
[21]
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
had 35%. The opposition challenged the result because of allegations of widespread fraud and irregularities.
[22]
[23]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
"East Africa Living Encyclopedia"
.
Archived
from the original on 2021-01-25
. Retrieved
2020-04-03
.
- ^
a
b
Rita M. Byrnes, ed.
Uganda: A Country Study
Archived
2016-11-03 at the
Wayback Machine
. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1990. p. 4
- ^
Evans, Ruth (24 May 2000).
"Kenya's Asian heritage on display"
.
BBC
. Retrieved
18 January
2017
.
- ^
Chao (26 October 2014).
"THE LUNATIC EXPRESS ? A PHOTO ESSAY ON THE UGANDA RAILWAY"
.
Thee Agora
. Archived from
the original
on 22 April 2016
. Retrieved
18 January
2017
.
- ^
West, Stewart (February 2012).
"Policing, Colonial Life and Decolonisation in Uganda, 1957?1960"
(PDF)
. The Ferguson Centre for African and Asian Studies, Working Paper No. 03. pp. 3?4. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 30 September 2015.
- ^
Fevre, E. M.; Coleman, P. G.; Welburn, S. C.; Maudlin, I. (April 2004).
"Reanalyzing the 1900?1920 Sleeping Sickness Epidemic in Uganda"
(PDF)
.
Emerging Infectious Diseases
.
10
(4). US: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: 567?573.
doi
:
10.3201/eid1004.020626
.
PMID
15200843
. Retrieved
18 January
2017
.
- ^
"A Country Study: Uganda"
Archived
2015-06-27 at the
Wayback Machine
,
Library of Congress
Country Studies
- ^
"UK Indians taking care of business"
Archived
2018-01-19 at the
Wayback Machine
,
The Age
(8 March 2006). Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^
Keatley, Patrick (18 August 2003).
"Obituary: Idi Amin"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
18 March
2008
.
- ^
Henry Wasswa, “Uganda's first prime minister, and two-time president, dead at 80,” Associated Press, 10 October 2005
- ^
"BBC News: Uganda MP urges death for gay sex"
. 15 October 2009.
Archived
from the original on 2022-12-26
. Retrieved
2009-12-06
.
- ^
Geen, Jessica (15 October 2009).
"Ugandan MP proposes that gays should be executed"
.
Pink News
. Retrieved
21 October
2009
.
- ^
a
b
Bariyo, Nicholas (15 September 2014).
"Uganda Forces Discover Suicide Vests, Explosives at Suspected Terrorist Cell"
.
The Wall Street Journal
. Retrieved
20 May
2017
.
- ^
"UGANDAN POLICE SEIZE EXPLOSIVES, SUICIDE VESTS FROM SUSPECTED AL SHABAAB CELL"
.
Reuters
. 14 September 2014
. Retrieved
20 May
2017
– via
Newsweek
.
- ^
"Uganda seizes explosives, suicide vests from suspected terrorist cell in capital of Kampala"
. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 September 2015
. Retrieved
20 May
2017
.
- ^
[1]
Archived
2016-04-22 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Uganda elections polling date set on Feb 18, 2016"
Archived
December 11, 2015, at the
Wayback Machine
,
New Vision
, 4 November 2015.
- ^
"Uganda Discovered the Zika Virus. And the Solution for It"
.
Foreign Policy
. Retrieved
2016-02-11
.
- ^
"Ahead of election, Museveni says he wants to build East African superstate #UgandaDecides"
.
Newsweek
. Retrieved
2016-10-22
.
- ^
"Ready for a United States of East Africa?"
. 6 July 2020.
- ^
Havyarimana, Moses (18 January 2020).
"Regional experts draft confederation constitution"
.
The EastAfrican
. Retrieved
24 February
2020
.
- ^
"Uganda elections 2021: Museveni takes lead as Bobi Wine cries foul"
.
BBC News
. 16 January 2021.
- ^
"Uganda election: Bobi Wine challenges result in court | DW | 01.02.2021"
.
Deutsche Welle
.
References
[
edit
]
Further reading
[
edit
]
- 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): 81-112
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),
- "Uganda"
.
Political Chronology of Africa
. Political Chronologies of the World.
Europa Publications
. 2001.
ISBN
0203409957
.
Primary sources
[
edit
]
- Tucker, Alfred R.
Eighteen Years in Uganda and East Africa
(London: Edward Arnold, 1908).
online
Years in
Uganda
(1962?present)
|
---|
|
|
---|
Sovereign states
| |
---|
States with limited
recognition
| |
---|
Dependencies and
other territories
| |
---|