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History and Government
History: For most of the period since independence in 1962, politically inspired violence has been endemic in Uganda. President Obote, who banned opposition parties in 1969, was overthrown by the notorious Idi Amin, who remained in power until he was deposed by Tanzanian forces and Ugandan exiles in 1979. Obote subsequently returned to office but he too found himself fighting guerrilla groups – the remnants of Amin’s army and Yoweri Museveni’s National Resistance Army (NRA). The actions of the ill-disciplined Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA), fighting both Museveni and tribesmen loyal to Amin in the former West Nile district, led to the displacement of large numbers of the population.
In July 1985, Obote was replaced by a military council under General Tito Okello. The whole period of Okello’s government was dominated by the struggle against the NRA. The latter, enjoying more popular support than Okello’s UNLA, continued their struggle against the government and took control of the capital in January 1986. A National Resistance Council was established to take over legislative responsibilities.
After years of political vacuum, Museveni succeeded in restoring order and a measure of prosperity to most of the country during the 1990s. Presidential elections, comfortably won by Museveni, were held in 1989, although the National Resistance Council subsequently delayed the introduction of a new constitution.
Especially during the early 1990s, Museveni resisted domestic and foreign pressure for the introduction of multiparty politics, arguing that in an unstable climate, this was a recipe for tribal conflict. The government initially worked around this problem by refusing to allow political parties to put up candidates, who were required stand as individuals – by the time of the 2001 elections, this constraint has been relaxed. In March 1993, the government published a draft constitution and in March 1994, a Constituent Assembly was elected to amend and enact it. After some delay, presidential elections were set for May 1996 – as expected, Museveni won with almost three-quarters of the poll. Elections for the new parliament were held the following month. Further polls in March 2001 once again returned Museveni to the presidency, with 70 per cent of the poll. Following simultaneous elections for the national parliament, the National Resistance Movement dominates the assembly. Three other parties are represented – the conservative Democratic Party, the leftist Uganada People’s Congress and the Uganda Patriotic Movement.
Many of Uganda’s problems in recent years have had their origins in relations with its various neighbours. Relations with Kenya have been fairly good but in the case of Sudan, both governments have regularly accused the other of supporting regional insurrections. Sudan has long claimed that Uganda supports the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). Meanwhile Sudan has evidently given some backing to the bizarre and extremely violent Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a quasi-religious outfit that has terrorised the border regions of northern Uganda by deliberately targeting civilians.
The LRA caused huge economic dislocation and created an estimated 200,000 refugees. The army has since quelled the worst of the LRA’s activities but, with continuing support for the LRA from the Sudan, and Uganda’s own commitments in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the army is now somewhat overstretched. The reason for Uganda’s support for the Rwandan Tutsis may be found in the support they provided for Museveni’s own successful insurgency, which originally brought him to power in 1986. The Rwandan Patriotic Front, which overthrew the genocidal regime in Rwanda in 1994, had long operated from bases in Uganda.
Uganda has since been heavily involved in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Along with its Rwandan allies, the Ugandans backed the rebel side against the Kabila government. In 2002, following a provisional settlement of that conflict, the Ugandans pulled out.
Government: Under the terms of the constitution introduced in 1995, legislative power is in the hands of a unicameral parliament, with 292 members (of whom 214 are directly elected and 62 chosen from ‘special interest groups’). Executive powers are held by the president, who is directly elected for a five-year term.
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