Uganda: History

Prehistory

Its location near East Africa's cradle of mankind makes it safe to assume that Uganda has long been inhabited - fossil evidence from eastern Uganda points to existence of a hominid that lived about 15 million years ago.

Stone Age cultures are well represented in the fossil record, particularly from the Lake Victoria region, where there is much evidence of occupation between 150 000 and 50 000 years ago.

Rock paintings and the now tenuous existence of pygmoid tribes of the western rainforests point to a link to the Khoisan peoples of southern Africa - the Bambuti or Batwa - whose cultures were submerged by the influx of Bantu speaking tribes around 200BC.

Early History

Centralised political systems were quick to appear in Uganda in the form of dynasties and there followed several centuries of political see-sawing between different clans - war, alliances, murder and marriage - until the eventual rise of the Buganda kingdom.

Descended from Ethiopian or Sudan migrants - the still revered Bacwezi - the Buganda clan chiefs had, by the mid-19th century, achieved effective control over most of what is now modern Uganda, despite the efforts of its arch-rival Bunyoro kingdom.

Colonial History

The now common phrase 'Scramble for Africa' can be aptly applied to the grubby state of affairs that surrounded the European takeover of much sought-after Uganda.

A series of skirmishes, expedient treaties and outright military campaigns saw Britain imposing its rule on Uganda by 1900.

There followed 62 years of colonial rule characterised by federalism that did little to foster national unity, but much to increase regionalism - no more so than in the neglected, backward northern areas, home - perhaps not coincidently - to Uganda's two notorious dictators: Milton Obote and Idi Amin.

Independence 1262 - 1986

Uganda gained independence in October 1962 after a decade of political agitation. What the independence movement lacked in belligerence was soon made up by the horrendous violence that fell on Uganda for the next 24 years.

Milton Obote ran the first post-independence government, one characterised by political tension, corruption and brutality. His arrogant rule was ended by a man he had promoted to head the army - a barely educated solider with a murderous track record: Idi Amin.

Deposing Obote in a 1971 coup, Amin quickly established himself as one of the world's most notorious despots.

Some 300 000 Ugandans are thought to have been murdered under his rule in an orgy of violence, greed and incompetence.

His expulsion of Uganda's 70 000 Asians (a cornerstone of the economy) and eccentric, wasteful economic policies soon plunged Uganda into fiscal crisis and the economy collapsed.

Keen to divert attention away from the impending disaster, he invaded a somewhat surprised Tanzania in 1978.

Recovering from their shock, the Tanzanians fought back and counter-invaded, leading to the complete collapse of the Ugandan army and the hasty flight of Amin in 1979, first to Libya and then to Saudi Arabia.

After the Tanzanians had looted their way back home, Ugandans breathed a collective sigh of relief which turned into a gasp of horror as none other than Milton Obote connived his way back to power.

The wearingly familiar cycle of violence and murder resumed as a powerful National Resistance Movement (NRM) fought against an increasingly desperate Obote, deposed for the second time by his army chief in a 1985 coup that did little to prevent the NRM, under Yoweri Museveni, from taking power in1986.

Post 1986

Inheriting a brutalised and battered country was no easy task for Museveni. However, his pragmatic economic policies (he encouraged the return of the Ugandan Asians for example) and broad-based democratic measures resulted in Uganda experiencing unprecedented growth and a return to stability in the 1990s.

Democratic elections followed and Museveni has cemented his rule since. Uganda in many ways remains at a crossroads. The age of the dictators has gone but the imagery remains.

Corruption, HIV/Aids and insurgencies in the north, most notably the bizarre Lord's Resistance Army, pose major challenges along with the conflicts in neighbouring Sudan and the DRC.

Nevertheless, Uganda seems determined to forge ahead with its development and play the part of peace-broker in the region; after decades of horror, it seems right that it should do so.

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