Country Report Uganda In 1962 Uganda officially gained its independence. Uganda had been a British colony since 1894. Dr. Milo Apollo Obote was elected the first Prime Minister of Uganda at its Independence. In 1967 Obote eradicated all monarchs within Uganda. This made the Ugandan Parliament the only form of Government in Uganda. However, Obote even went as far as to abolish all other political parties other than his own (UPC). This caused Uganda to become a one-party state. This abolishment is what led Idi Amin to lead a coup against Obote in 1971.
With the help of a disgruntled section of the Ugandan army, the coup was successful and Obote was overthrown.
However, this new leadership would lead Uganda into 8 years of political corruption and tyranny. Throughout his reign Idi Amin demanded that all Asians be expelled from Uganda, many were just killed. This had a devastating effect on the Ugandan economy, and Uganda suffered tremendously. Idi Amin was also responsible for the deaths of nearly 300,000 Ugandan citizens due to overly harsh and extreme punishments.
Idi Amin’s regime lasted for nearly 8 years until in 1979 a group of Ugandan exiles that called themselves the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLF) banded together with Tanzania’s People Defense Force (TPDFPDFnd successfully overthrew Idi Amin and his regime. After Amin’s defeat, Obote once again became President of Uganda through a series of elections that were considered rigged. As a result of this disgraceful election, Obote once again created many enemies. It was from this election fraud that the National Resistance Army (NRA) was formed and began waging a war for liberation in Uganda. In 1986 the NRA was successful in winning Uganda’s liberation.
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was sworn in as the President of the new Republic of Uganda. IToaccomplish the task of rebuilding the entire country and the Ugandan government, all parties were temporarily suspended and Uganda was run by an all-inclusive movement system. In July of 2005, a national referendum was created in which the people of Uganda voted to return to Multi-party politics. This effectively ended the movement system and returned Uganda to a multiple-party state.
Since Museveni took power in 1986 Uganda has started to create a somewhat stable political situation. The country has made significant progress in reducing the cases of HIV/AIDS, experienced a large amount of economic growth, and it has been able to stabilize Northern Uganda where the Lord’s Resistance Army operated under the leadership of Joseph Kony. However, Uganda still faces many problems, such as population growth, lack of power and infrastructure, corruption, and significant human rights violations which have strained Uganda’srelationshiwith several other states including the U.S. Recently Uganda passed the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act 2014. This law criminalizes same-sex relations in Uganda and makes it punishable by life in prison. The law also applies to Ugandan citizens who are not within the boundaries of Uganda, it states they can be extra back to Uganda and punished. This law has been viewed as a huge violation of the Ugandan citizens’ human rights and has caused a strain on Uganda’s relations with many powerful states such as the U.K. and the U.S.
Overall Uganda has had a history full of violence, and coup after coup. However, in the past 29 years,s it has begun to make progress in stabilizing itself, with new leadership the state should be able to fix its relations and continue to grow into a successful state.
Uganda and British Colony Demography. (2022, Jun 13). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/a-report-on-the-country-uganda-and-a-brief-demography-of-the-british-colony-from-19th-century/
