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History »
UGANDA SINCE 1979
The Interim Period
A month before the liberation of Kampala, during the Uganda-Tanzania War,
representatives of twenty-two Ugandan civilian and military groups were hastily
called together at Moshi, Tanzania, to try to agree on an interim civilian
government once Amin was removed. Called the Unity Conference in the hope that
unity might prevail, it managed to establish the Uganda National Liberation
Front (UNLF) as political representative of the UNLA. Dr. Yusuf Lule, former
principal of Makerere University, became head of the UNLF executive committee.
As an academic rather than a politician, Lule was not regarded as a threat to
any of the contending factions. Shortly after Amin's departure, Lule and the
UNLF moved to Kampala, where they established an interim government. Lule became
president, advised by a temporary parliament, the National Consultative Council
(NCC). The NCC, in turn, was composed of representatives from the Unity
Conference.
Conflict surfaced immediately between Lule and some of the more radical of the
council members who saw him as too conservative, too autocratic, and too willing
as a Muganda to listen to advice from other Baganda. After only three months,
with the apparent approval of Nyerere, whose troops still controlled Kampala,
Lule was forcibly removed from office and exiled. He was replaced by Godfrey
Binaisa, a Muganda like Lule, but one who had previously served as a
high-ranking member of Milton Obote's UPC. It was not an auspicious start to the
rebuilding of a new Uganda, which required political and economic stability.
Indeed, the quarrels within the NCC, which Binaisa enlarged to 127 members,
revealed that many rival and would-be politicians who had returned from exile
were resuming their self-interested operating styles. Ugandans who endured the
deprivations of the Amin era became even more disillusioned with their leaders.
Binaisa managed to stay in office longer than Lule, but his inability to gain
control over a burgeoning new military presence proved to be his downfall.
The military numbered fewer than 1,000 troops who had fought alongside the
Tanzanian People's Defence Force (TPDF) to expel Amin. The army was back to the
size of the original King's African Rifles (KAR) at independence in 1962. But in
1979, in an attempt to consolidate support for the future, such leaders as
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and Major General (later Chief of Staff) David Oyite Ojok
began to enroll thousands of recruits grew to 8,000; Ojok's original 600 became
24,000. When Binaisa sought to curb the use of these militias, which were
harassing and detaining political opponents, he was overthrown in a military
coup on May 10, 1980. The coup was engineered by Ojok, Museveni, and others
acting under the general direction of Paulo Muwanga, Obote's right-hand man and
chair of the Military Commission. The TPDF was still providing necessary
security while Uganda's police force--which had been decimated by Amin--was
rebuilt, but Nyerere refused to help Binaisa retain power. Many Ugandans claimed
that although Nyerere did not impose his own choice on Uganda, he indirectly
facilitated the return to power of his old friend and ally, Milton Obote. In any
case, the Military Commission headed by Muwanga effectively governed Uganda
during the six months leading up to the national elections of December 1980.
Further evidence of the militarization of Ugandan politics was provided by the
proposed expenditures of the newly empowered Military Commission. Security and
defence were to be allotted more than 30 percent of the national revenues. For a
country desperately seeking funds for economic recovery from the excesses of the
previous military regime, this allocation seemed unreasonable to civilian
leaders.
Shortly after Muwanga's 1980 coup, Obote made a triumphant return from Tanzania.
In the months before the December elections, he began to rally his former UPC
supporters. Ominously, in view of recent Ugandan history, he often appeared on
the platform with General Oyite-Ojok, a fellow Lango. Obote also began to speak
of the need to return to a UPC one-party state.
The national election on December 10, 1980, was a crucial turning point for
Uganda. It was, after all, the first election in eighteen years. Several parties
contested, the most important of which were Obote's UPC and the DP led by Paul
Kawanga Ssemogerere. Most of Uganda's Roman Catholics were DP members, along
with many others whose main concern was to prevent the return of another Obote
regime. Because the Military Commission, as the acting government, was dominated
by Obote supporters (notably chairman Paulo Muwanga), the DP and other
contenders faced formidable obstacles. By election day, the UPC had achieved
some exceptional advantages, summarized by Minority Rights Group Report Number
66 as follows: Seventeen UPC candidates were declared "unopposed" by the simple
procedure of not allowing DP or other candidates to run against them. Fourteen
district commissioners, who were expected to supervise local polling, were
replaced with UPC nominees. The chief justice of Uganda, to whom complaints of
election irregularities would have to be made, was replaced with a UPC member.
In a number of districts, non-UPC candidates were arrested, and one was
murdered. Even before the election, the government press and Radio Uganda
appeared to treat the UPC as the victor. Muwanga insisted that each party have a
separate ballot box on election day, thus negating the right of secret ballot.
There were a number of other moves to aid the UPC, including Muwanga's statement
that the future parliament would also contain an unspecified number of unelected
representatives of the army and other interest groups.
Polling appeared to be heavy on election day, and by the end of the voting, the
DP, on the basis of its own estimates, declared victory in 81 of 126
constituencies. The British Broadcasting Corporation and Voice of America
broadcast the news of the DP triumph, and Kampala's streets were filled with DP
celebrants. At this point, Muwanga seized control of the Electoral Commission,
along with the power to count the ballots, and declared that anyone disputing
his count would be subject to a heavy fine and five years in jail. Eighteen
hours later, Muwanga announced a UPC victory, with seventy-two seats. Some DP
candidates claimed the ballot boxes were simply switched to give their own vote
tally to the UPC runner-up. Nevertheless, a small contingent of neutral election
watchers, the Commonwealth Observer Group, declared itself satisfied with the
validity of the election. Some Ugandans criticized the Commonwealth Observer
Group, suggesting that members of the group measured African elections by
different standards than those used elsewhere or that they feared civil war if
the results were questioned. Indeed, popular perception of a stolen election
actually helped bring about the civil war the Commonwealth Observer Group may
have feared.
The Second Obote Period: 1981-1985
In February 1981, shortly after the new Obote government took office, with
Paulo Muwanga as vice president and minister of defence, a former Military
Commission member, Yoweri Museveni, and his armed supporters declared themselves
the National Resistance Army (NRA). Museveni vowed to overthrow Obote by means
of a popular rebellion, and what became known as "the war in the bush" began.
Several other underground groups also emerged to attempt to sabotage the new
regime, but they were eventually crushed. Museveni, who had guerrilla war
experience with the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frente de Libertaçâo
de Moçambique--Frelimo), campaigned in rural areas hostile to Obote's
government, especially central and western Buganda and the western regions of
Ankole and Bunyoro.
The Obote government's four-year military effort to destroy its challengers
resulted in vast areas of devastation and greater loss of life than during the
eight years of Amin's rule. UNLA's many Acholi and Lango had been hastily
enrolled with minimal training and little sense of discipline. Although they
were survivors of Amin's genocidal purges of northeast Uganda, in the 1980s they
were armed and in uniform, conducting similar actions against Bantu-speaking
Ugandans in the south, with whom they appeared to feel no empathy or even pity.
In early 1983, to eliminate rural support for Museveni's guerrillas the area of
Luwero District, north of Kampala, was targeted for a massive population removal
affecting almost 750,000 people. These artificially created refugees were packed
into several internment camps subject to military control, which in reality
meant military abuse. Civilians outside the camps, in what came to be known as
the "Luwero Triangle," were presumed to be guerrillas or guerrilla sympathizers
and were treated accordingly. The farms of this highly productive agricultural
area were looted--roofs, doors, and even door frames were stolen by UNLA troops.
Civilian loss of life was extensive, as evidenced some years later by piles of
human skulls in bush clearings and alongside rural roads.
The army also concentrated on the north-western corner of Uganda, in what was
then West Nile District. Bordering Sudan, West Nile had provided the ethnic base
for much of Idi Amin's earlier support and had enjoyed relative prosperity under
his rule. Having born the brunt of Amin's anti-Acholi massacres in previous
years, Acholi soldiers avenged themselves on inhabitants of Amin's home region,
whom they blamed for their losses. In one famous incident in June 1981, Ugandan
Army soldiers attacked a Catholic mission where local refugees had sought
sanctuary. When the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported a
subsequent massacre, the government expelled it from Uganda.
Despite these activities, Obote's government, unlike Amin's regime, was
sensitive to its international image and realized the importance of securing
foreign aid for the nation's economic recovery. Obote had sought and followed
the advice of the International Monetary Fund, even though the austerity
measures ran counter to his own ideology. He devalued the Uganda shilling by 100
percent, attempted to facilitate the export of cash crops, and postponed any
plans he may once have entertained for re-establishing one-party rule. The
continued sufferance of the DP, although much harried and abused by UPC
stalwarts, became an important symbol to international donors. The government's
inability to eliminate Museveni and win the civil war, however, sapped its
economic strength, and the occupation of a large part of the country by an army
hostile to the Ugandans living there furthered discontent with the regime.
Abductions by the police, as well as the detentions and disappearances so
characteristic of the Amin period, recurred. In place of torture at the infamous
State Research Bureau at Nakasero, victims met the same fate at so-called "Nile
Mansions." Amnesty International, a human rights organization, issued a chilling
report of routine torture of civilian detainees at military barracks scattered
across southern Uganda. The overall death toll from 1981 to 1985 was estimated
as high as 500,000. Obote, once seen by the donor community as the one man with
the experience and will to restore Uganda's fortunes, now appeared to be a
liability to recovery.
In this deteriorating military and economic situation, Obote subordinated other
matters to a military victory over Museveni. North Korean military advisers were
invited to take part against the NRA rebels in what was to be a final campaign
that won neither British nor United States approval. But the army was war weary,
and after the death of the highly capable General Oyite Ojok in a helicopter
accident at the end of 1983, it began to split along ethnic lines. Acholi
soldiers complained that they were given too much frontline action and too few
rewards for their services. Obote delayed appointing a successor to Oyite Ojok
for as long as possible. In the end, he appointed a Lango to the post and
attempted to counter the objection of Acholi officers by spying on them,
reviving his old paramilitary counterweight, the mostly Langi Special Force
Units, and thus repeating some of the actions that led to his overthrow by Amin.
As if determined to replay the January 1971 events, Obote once again left the
capital after giving orders for the arrest of a leading Acholi commander,
Brigadier (later Lieutenant General) Bazilio Olara-Okello, who mobilized troops
and entered Kampala on July 27, 1985. Obote, together with a large entourage,
fled the country for Zambia. This time, unlike the last, Obote allegedly took
much of the national treasury with him.
The Return of Military Rule: 1985
The military government of General Tito Okello ruled from July 1985 to
January 1986 with no explicit policy except the natural goal of
self-preservation--the motive for their defensive coup. To stiffen the flagging
efforts of his army against the NRA, Okello invited former soldiers of Amin's
army to re-enter Uganda from the Sudanese refugee camps and participate in the
civil war on the government side. As mercenaries fresh to the scene, these units
fought well, but they were equally interested in looting and did not
discriminate between supporters and enemies of the government. The
reintroduction of Amin's infamous cohorts was poor international public
relations for the Okello government and helped create a new tolerance of
Museveni and the NRM/A.
Okello could hardly expect to govern the entire country with only war-weary and
disillusioned Acholi troops to back him. From August to December 1985, the
Okello government attempted to negotiate a peace deal with Museveni, the Nairobi
Agreement. The resulting ceasefire broke down almost immediately. With Okello
and the remnants of the UNLA army thoroughly discouraged, Museveni had only to
wait for the regime to disintegrate. In January 1986, welcomed enthusiastically
by the local civilian population, Museveni moved against Kampala. Okello and his
soldiers fled northward to their ethnic base in Acholiland. Yoweri Museveni
formally claimed the presidency on January 29, 1986. Immense problems of
reconstruction awaited the new regime.
Recent developments
A referendum was held in March 2000 on whether Uganda should retain the Movement
system or adopt multi-party politics. Although 70% of voters endorsed retention
of the Movement system, the referendum was widely criticized for low voter
turnout and unfair restrictions on Movement opponents. Museveni was re-elected
to a second five-year term in March 2001. Parliamentary elections were held in
June 2001, and more than 50% of contested seats were won by newcomers. Movement
supporters nevertheless remained in firm control of the legislative branch.
Observers believed that the 2001 presidential and parliamentary elections
generally reflected the will of the electorate; however, both were marred by
serious irregularities, particularly in the period leading up to the elections,
such as restrictions on political party activities, incidents of violence, voter
intimidation, and fraud.
In 2001 the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) began soliciting opinions and
holding public hearings on amending the 1995 Constitution. The CRC was set up to
examine the constitutional provisions relating to sovereignty, political
systems, democracy and good governance. Its report, scheduled for release by
October 2003, has not yet been delivered to Cabinet or made public. The Cabinet,
however, presented a list of its suggestions for constitutional change to the
CRC in September. These changes included the introduction of a full multiparty
system, an increase in executive authority vis-à-vis the other branches, and the
lifting of presidential term limits. The elimination of term limits would clear
the way for Museveni to run again in 2006, and there are increasing signs that
he wishes to do so. However, this proposal has also produced significant
controversy and it is not yet clear when or how the constitution will be
changed.
The bizarre and cult-like Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) continues to harass
government forces and murder and kidnap civilians in the north and east.
Although the LRA does not threaten the stability of the government, LRA violence
has displaced 1.2 million people and created a humanitarian crisis. At least
20,000 children have also been abducted over the years. The Uganda Peoples
Defense Force (UPDF) launched "Operation Iron Fist" against LRA rebels in
northern Uganda in 2002 and conducted operations against LRA sanctuaries in
southern Sudan with the permission of the Sudanese Government. Uganda and Sudan
have resumed diplomatic relations and exchanged Ambassadors; however, Uganda
continues to accuse Sudan of supporting the LRA. Sudan denies the allegations.
In 1998, Uganda deployed a sizable military force to eastern Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC), ostensibly to prevent attacks from Ugandan rebel groups
operating there. There were widespread allegations that Ugandan military and
civilian officials were involved in the illegal exploitation of DRC natural
resources. After much international pressure, Uganda withdrew its troops from
DRC in June 2003.
On 14 November 2004 it was reported that the President had declared a week long
truce with the rebels that was to begin the following day.
In August 2005, Parliament voted to change the constitution to lift presidential
term limits, allowing Museveni to run for a third term. In a referendum in July,
2005, 92.5% supported restoring multiparty politics, thereby scraping the
no-party or "movement system".
In October 2005 Kizza Besigye, Museveni's main political rival, returned from
exile. The same month, another of Museveni's rivals, Milton Obote, died in South
Africa, and was given a state funeral in Kampala.
The February 2006 elections, the first multiparty elections in 25 years, were
held with Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) as the main challenger to
Museveni's National Resistance Movement (NRM). NRM won most seats in the
National Assembly, and Museveni won the presidency.
On August 20, 2007, Uganda declared that it is seeking legal advice on setting a
war crimes court.
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