Uganda gained its independence on October 9th, 1962. Since 1894 she was a British protectorate that was put together from some very organized kingdoms and chieftaincies that inhabited the lake regions of central Africa. At independence, Dr. Milton Apollo Obote, also the leader of the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) became the first Prime Minister and head of the government.
The Republican-leaning UPC came into power through an “unholy” alliance with a pro-monarchy party called the Kabaka Yekka (KY), which had a stated aim of protecting the institution and power of the kingdom of Buganda. The UPC had earlier on, one year before independence, lost the first ever general election to the Democratic Party (DP) and now needed the strategic partnership of allies to avoid another defeat.
In 1964, Obote championed a bill in Parliament providing for a referendum on the belonging of the counties of Buyaga, Bugangaizi, and Buwekula then of Buganda but claimed by the neighboring kingdom of Bunyoro. This culminated in two of the counties opting to secede from Buganda and revert back to the Bunyoro Kingdom. As Kabaka of Buganda and President of Uganda, Sir Edward Mutesa II, was placed in an invidious position of signing the two acts pertaining to the “lost counties”. It was upon accusations of dereliction of duty by the President, not to mention other fabricated reasons, that Obote suspended the 1962 constitution on 22nd February 1966 and took over all powers of State, thus giving rise to what came to be known as the 1966 Crisis.
On 15 April 1966, in a Parliament surrounded by troops, Obote introduced without notice a new constitution to be voted upon that very day. It was passed without debate and the Prime Minister informed Members of Parliament (MPs) that they would find their copies in their pigeonholes. This constitution came to be known as the Pigeonhole Constitution. Amongst other things, the federal constitutional status of kingdoms was abolished and the office of Prime Minister merged with that of the President and all executive powers became vested in Obote. Uganda was declared a Republic.
In 1967 Obote abolished all monarchs. Parliament became the constituent assembly and later all political parties were outlawed, except UPC. In a move to the left, Uganda became a one-party state.
It was against this background that Idi Amin led a disgruntled section of the army to overthrow Obote on 25th January 1971. This coup was met with great jubilation but was to begin an era of terror and enormous tribulation for the people of Uganda. This dark period would last 8 long years. It was also during this period that all Asians, mainly Indians, were expelled from Uganda. An estimated 300,000 Ugandans lost their lives through indiscriminate extrajudicial killings during Idi Amin’s regime.
In April 1979, a combined force of Ugandan exiles, under the umbrella of Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLF), and the Tanzania Peoples Defense Force (TPDF) overthrew Amin’s regime.
President Lule was followed by President Godfrey Binaisa, and then Paulo Muwanga who chaired the ruling Military Commission which organized the December 1980 general elections. UPC was declared the winner of those elections though they were marred by multiple irregularities and generally considered rigged. For a second time, Obote became President of Uganda.
During Obote’s second tenure as president, Ugandans went through a very trying period. Insecurity, fuelled by the government’s own security organs as well as an ongoing liberation struggle devastated the country. An estimated 500,000 Ugandans lost their lives in just 5 years of Obote’s reign. The economy was shattered and so was the people’s faith in government.
Indirect protest against the marred elections of 1980, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, then Vice Chairman of the Military Commission and President of the Uganda Patriotic Movement, launched a liberation struggle. It was on February 6th, 1981 and with only 26 compatriots organized under the banner of the National Resistance Army (NRA) that the war of liberation started.
As the NRA made staggering advances towards Kampala, having already cut the country off into two different administrative zones, elements of the UNLA on July 26th, 1985 ousted Obote in a bid to find better-negotiating ground. The Military Junta of Generals Bazilio and Tito Okello replaced Obote II’s government.
By February 26th, 1986 the “Okellos Junta” had fallen and shortly after the entire country was under control of the NRA. The NRA’s struggle was unique in that, for the first time in post-colonial Africa, a homegrown insurgency, with no rear bases in a neighboring country and little external support, was ultimately successful. It was essentially an uprising of oppressed Ugandan citizens.
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was sworn in as the President of the Republic of Uganda. The arduous task of rebuilding the entire country and its human fabric from scratch began. To enable this task, political parties were suspended and Uganda was governed by an all-inclusive Movement system. A lot was to be achieved over the next eight to ten years.
In 1995, a new constitution was promulgated creating a non-party all inclusive Movement System of government. Under this system, political parties remained in abeyance. Elections to most political offices were by universal suffrage. Marginalized groups like the women, the disabled, the youth and workers were given special slots on all administrative units of Government. The military was also given representation in parliament. The aspect of keeping this system was to be reviewed by referendum every 4 years.
In July 2005 a national referendum was held in which the people of Uganda resolved to return to multi-party politics. The result of the referendum in effect marked an end to the Movement System of government. On February 23rd, 2006, multi-party elections were held for both the office of president and for parliament. President Yoweri Museveni of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) won the presidential elections and the NRM took the highest number of seats in parliament