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 UGANDA
Uganda is a land-locked country in East Africa, bordered in the east by Kenya, in the north by Sudan, by the Democratic Republic of Congo in the west, Rwanda in the southwest and Tanzania in the south. Uganda takes its name from the Buganda kingdom, which encompasses a portion of the south of the country, including the capital city, Kampala.
FACTS
Full name: Republic of Uganda
Population: 27.6 million (UN, 2005)
Capital: Kampala
Area: 241,038 sq km (93,072 sq miles)
Major languages: English (official), Luganda, Swahili, various Bantu languages
Major religions: Christianity, Islam
Life expectancy: 46 years (men), 47 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 Ugandan shilling = 100 cents
Main exports: Coffee, fish and fish products, tea; tobacco, cotton, corn, beans, sesame
GNI per capita: US $280 (World Bank, 2006)
HISTORY
The oldest human inhabitants in Uganda were hunter-gatherers. Between approximately 2000 and 1500 years ago, Bantu speaking populations, who were probably from central and western Africa, migrated into the southern parts of the country. These settlers both brought and developed agriculture, ironworking skills and new ideas of social and political organization. The Kingdom of Buganda and that of Bunyoro-Kitara represent some of the earliest forms of formal organization. By the 16th century there were centralized kingdoms in Buganda, Bunyoro-Kitara and Ankole. Other Kingdoms developed by way of secession, such as Toro, while other groups were organized as fiefdoms of clans, such as the Busoga.
Nilotic people, including Luo and Ateker entered the area from the north probably beginning about A.D. 100. They were cattle herders and subsistence farmers who settled mainly the northern and eastern parts of the country. Some Luo invaded the area of Bunyoro and assimilated with the Bantu there, establishing the Babiito dynasty of the current Omukama (ruler) of Bunyoro-Kitara. Luo migration proceeded until the 16th century, with some Luo settling amid Bantu people in Eastern Uganda, and proceeding to the western shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya and Tanzania. The Ateker (Karamojong and Teso) settled in the north-eastern and eastern parts of the country, and some fused with the Luo in the area north of Lake Kyoga.
Arab traders moved inland from the Indian Ocean coast in the 1830s. They were followed in the 1860s by British explorers searching for the source of the Nile. Protestant missionaries entered the country in 1877, followed by Catholic missionaries in 1879.
The United Kingdom placed the area under the charter of the British East Africa Company in 1888, and ruled it as a protectorate from 1894. As several other territories and chiefdoms were integrated, the final protectorate called Uganda took shape in 1914.
Uganda became an independent nation in 1962, with Edward Muteesa II, the Kabaka (King) of Buganda as the President and Commander in Chief of the armed forces, and Milton Obote as Prime Minister. In 1966, Obote overthrew the constitution and declared himself President. Obote was deposed twice from office, both times by military coup d'etat: 1971 saw Idi Amin take power, ruling the country with the military for the coming decade.
Idi Amin's rule cost an estimated 300,000 Ugandans' lives, and he forcibly removed the entrepreneurial Indian minority from Uganda, decimating the economy. His reign was ended after an invasion by Tanzanian forces aided by Ugandan exiles in 1979. The situation improved little with the return of Obote, who was deposed once more in 1985 by General Tito Okello. Okello ruled for six months until he was overthrown by the National Resistance Army (NRM) operating under the leadership of, Yoweri Museveni.
Museveni has been in power since 1986. In the 1990s, he was lauded by the West as part of a new generation of African leaders. His presidency has been marred, however, by involvement in civil war in the DRC and other regional conflicts, not to mention widespread accusations of endemic corruption. The conflict in the North with the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) continues to perpetuate one of the world's worst humanitarian emergencies.
POLITICS
The President of Uganda, currently Yoweri Museveni, is both head of state and head of government. The president appoints a Prime Minister who aids him, currently Apolo Nsibambi. The parliament is formed by the National Assembly, which has 303 members. 86 of these members are nominated by interest groups, including women and the army.
In a measure ostensibly designed to reduce sectarian violence, political parties were restricted in their activities from 1986. In the non-party "Movement" system instituted by Museveni, political parties continued to exist but could not campaign in elections or field candidates directly (although electoral candidates could belong to political parties). A constitutional referendum cancelled this 19-year ban on multi-party politics in July 2005. In the same referendum, Uganda voted to abolish limits on the number of terms the President could serve (previously 2).
The most recent presidential elections were held in February 2006. Museveni ran against several candidates, the most prominent of whom was exiled Dr. Kizza Besigye. Museveni won a third term and the elections were held to be predominantly free and fair according to international and national observers, despite controversy described in the Ugandan media.
ECONOMY
Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt. Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, employing over 80% of the work force, with coffee accounting for the bulk of export revenues.
During 1990-2001, the economy turned in a solid performance based on continued investment in the rehabilitation of infrastructure, improved incentives for production and exports, reduced inflation, gradually improved domestic security, and the return of exiled Indian-Ugandan entrepreneurs.
In 2000, Uganda qualified for the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt relief initiative worth $1.3 billion and Paris Club debt relief worth $145 million. These amounts combined with the original HIPC debt relief added up to about $2 billion.
Growth for 2001-02 was solid despite continued decline in the price of coffee, Uganda's principal export. According to IMF statistics, in 2004 Uganda's GDP per-capita reached 300 dollars, a much higher level than in the Eighties but still at half of Sub-Saharan African average income of 600 dollars per year. Total GDP crossed the 8 billion dollar mark in the same year.
LRA
The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), formed in 1987, is a rebel paramilitary group operating mainly in northern Uganda. The group is engaged in an armed rebellion against the Ugandan government in what is now one of Africa’s longest running conflicts. It is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself a spirit medium, and apparently wishes to establish a state based on his unique interpretation of the Bible. The LRA have been accused of widespread human rights violations, including mutilation, torture, rape, the abduction of children, the use of child soldiers and a huge number of massacres.
The insurgency has been historically contained to the region known as Acholiland, consisting of the districts of Kitgum, Gulu and Pader, though since 2002 violence has overflowed into other Ugandan districts. The LRA has also operated across the porous border region with southern Sudan and most recently into the north eastern Ituri Province of the DRC. The plight of the affected peoples has received little media coverage in the developed world. Not until April 2004 did the UN Security Council issue a formal condemnation. A 2005 poll of humanitarian professionals, media personalities, academics and activists identified the conflict in the north of Uganda as the second worst "forgotten" humanitarian emergency in the world, after the conflicts in the DRC.
Up to 12,000 people have been killed directly in the ensuing violence, with many more dying from disease and malnutrition as a result of the conflict. Nearly two million civilians have been forced to flee their homes, living in internally displaced person (IDP) camps and within the safety of larger settlements, sleeping on street corners and in other public spaces.
While many abductees are taken to carry items looted from raided villages, some are also used as soldiers and sex slaves. The UN estimated in the 2002 that around 25,000 children have been kidnapped by the LRA since 1987. A 2006 survey of 750 youth in Kitgum and Pader concluded that the UN estimate was a significant underestimate. According to the survey, at least 66,000 youth between the ages of 13 and 30 have been abducted. As a result of these abductions, every night children between the ages of 3 and 17, referred to as "Night Commuters" or "Night Dwellers", walk up to 20km from IDP camps to larger towns in search of safety from the LRA.
SOCIAL
Uganda has a wide range of social issues which in many ways characterise sub-Saharan Africa. As a result of conflict, poverty and AIDS, the population of Uganda has turned into an hourglass with 49% of population under 15 (UNDP HDR report, 2005). Of the 13.3M children in Uganda, 2.3M have lost one or more parents. Fighting in some parts of the country have contributed to the disintegration of traditional community structures which previously would have cared for these orphans.
Uganda’s response to the AIDS epidemic has been more successful than most sub-Saharan countries. Uganda was among the first countries to be hit with the first HIV/AIDS case identified in 1982. Superstitions and witchcraft characterized the initial response from communities amidst lack of clear government response to HIV/AIDS. Consequently, the epidemic progressed very fast to all parts of the country initially concentrating in urban and semi-urban centres.
By end of 1992, the national prevalence rate was estimated at 18.3% with some centres registering rates above 30%. This was followed by a period of steady decline in prevalence rates from the mid 1990s to 2000 to around 6%, attributed to favourable prevention policies. The country has since experienced stabilizing prevalence rates over the last four years with threats of increases in some parts of the country.
EDUCATION
The school system is based on that of the United Kingdom. Primary school takes seven years (standards one through seven), usually beginning about age six. In secondary school, students study a broad range of subjects for the first four years with pupils sitting ‘O’-Levels at the end of this period. A further two years of study of three or four subjects leads to ‘A’-Level qualifications.
Education has been targeted in Uganda as a corner-stone of the government's social policy to tackle poverty. Universal Primary Education (UPE) has been introduced to ensure that all children gain an education up to the age of 12. This policy has been fairly successful and 86% of school age children are now enrolled in primary school (DFID, 2003). The situation, however, after this is not so promising.
Only 19% of children are enrolled in secondary school (World Bank, 2003) and can continue their education and gain qualifications. The average school fees at a cheaper secondary school in Uganda cost ~$420 per year when the average GNI per capita is only $280. |
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