History of Uganda 56921 223800781 2008-07-05T21:43:35Z Kozuch 1339567 clean up + reference formating fixes using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]] {{History of Uganda}} ==Uganda before 1900== {{main|Uganda before 1900}} The earliest human inhabitants in a contemporary Uganda were hunter-gathers. Remnants of these people are today to be found among the pygmies in western Uganda. Between approximately 2000 to 1500 years ago, [[Bantu]] speaking populations from [[Central Africa|central]] and [[West Africa|western Africa]] migrated and occupied most of the southern parts of the country. The migrants brought with them agriculture, ironworking skills and new ideas of social and political organization, that by the [[15th century|fifteenth]] or [[16th century|sixteenth]] resulted in the development of centralized kingdoms, including the kingdoms of [[Buganda]], [[Bunyoro|Bunyoro-Kitara]] and [[Ankole]]. [[Nilotic]] people, including [[Luo]] and [[Ateker]] entered the area from the north probably beginning about AD 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 of Bunyoro|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 ([[Karimojong]] and [[Teso]] peoples) settled in the north-eastern and eastern parts of the country, and some fused with the Luo in the area north of [[lake Kyoga]]. When Arab traders moved inland from their enclaves along the Indian Ocean coast of [[East Africa]] and reached the interior of Uganda in the 1830s, they found several kingdoms with well-developed political institutions. These traders were followed in the 1860s by British explorers searching for the source of the Nile River. Protestant missionaries entered the country in 1877, followed by Catholic missionaries in 1879. ==Colonial Uganda== {{main|Colonial Uganda}} In [[1888]], control of the emerging British "sphere of interest" in East Africa was assigned by royal charter to the [[Imperial British East Africa Company]], an arrangement strengthened in [[1890]] by an Anglo-German agreement confirming British dominance over Kenya and Uganda. The high cost of occupying the territory caused the company to withdraw in [[1893]], and its administrative functions were taken over by a British commissioner. In [[1894]], the [[Kingdom of Uganda]] was placed under a formal British protectorate. ==Early independent Uganda== {{main|Early independent Uganda}} Britain granted independence to Uganda in [[1962]], with the first elections held on [[March 1]], [[1962]]. [[Benedicto Kiwanuka]] of the Democratic Party became the first Chief Minister. Uganda became a republic the following year, maintaining its [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] membership. In succeeding years, supporters of a centralized state vied with those in favor of a loose federation and a strong role for tribally-based local kingdoms. Political maneuvering climaxed in February [[1966]], when Prime Minister [[Milton Obote]] suspended the constitution and assumed all government powers, removing the positions of president and vice president. In September [[1967]], a new constitution proclaimed Uganda a republic, gave the president even greater powers, and abolished the traditional kingdoms. == Uganda under Amin== {{main|Uganda under Amin}} On [[January 25]], [[1971]], Obote's government was ousted in a [[1971 Ugandan coup d'état|military coup]] led by armed forces commander [[Idi Amin Dada]]. Amin declared himself 'president,' dissolved the parliament, and amended the constitution to give himself absolute power. Idi Amin's eight-year rule produced economic decline, social disintegration, and massive human rights violations. The [[Acholi people|Acholi]] and [[Lango|Langi]] ethnic groups were particular objects of Amin's political persecution because they had supported Obote and made up a large part of the army. In [[1978]], the [[International Commission of Jurists]] estimated that more than 100,000 Ugandans had been murdered during Amin's reign of terror; some authorities place the figure as high as 300,000--a statistic cited at the end of the 2006 movie [[The Last King of Scotland]], which chronicled part of Amin's dictatorship. In October 1978, [[Tanzania]]n armed forces repulsed an incursion of Amin's troops into Tanzanian territory. The Tanzanian army, backed by [[Uganda]]n exiles waged a war of liberation against Amin's troops and the [[Libya]]n soldiers sent to help him. On [[April 11]], [[1979]], [[Kampala]] was captured, and Amin fled with his remaining forces. ==Uganda since 1979== {{main|Uganda since 1979}} After Amin's removal, the Uganda National Liberation Front formed an interim government with [[Yusuf Lule]] as president. This government adopted a ministerial system of administration and created a quasi-parliamentary organ known as the National Consultative Commission (NCC). The NCC and the Lule cabinet reflected widely differing political views. In June 1979, following a dispute over the extent of presidential powers, the NCC replaced Lule with [[Godfrey Binaisa]]. In a continuing dispute over the powers of the interim presidency, Binaisa was removed in May [[1980]]. Thereafter, Uganda was ruled by a military commission chaired by [[Paulo Muwanga]]. The December 1980 elections returned the UPC to power under the leadership of [[Milton Obote|President Milton Obote]], with Muwanga serving as vice president. Under Obote, the security forces had one of the world's worst human rights records. In their efforts to stamp out an insurgency led by [[Yoweri Museveni]]'s [[National Resistance Army]] (NRA), they laid waste to a substantial section of the country, especially in the Luwero area north of Kampala. Obote ruled until [[July 27]], [[1985]], when an army brigade, composed mostly of ethnic Acholi troops and commanded by Lt. Gen. [[Bazilio Olara-Okello]], took Kampala and proclaimed a military government. Obote fled to exile in [[Zambia]]. The new regime, headed by former defense force commander Gen. [[Tito Okello]] (no relation to Lt. Gen. Olara-Okello), opened negotiations with Museveni's insurgent forces and pledged to improve respect for human rights, end tribal rivalry, and conduct free and fair elections. In the meantime, massive human rights violations continued as the Okello government carried out a brutal counterinsurgency in an attempt to destroy the NRA's support. [[Image:Acholiland, Uganda.png|right|300px|[[Acholiland]] in the north.]] Negotiations between the Okello government and the NRA were conducted in [[Nairobi]] in the fall of [[1985]], with Kenyan President [[Daniel arap Moi]] seeking a cease-fire and a coalition government in Uganda. Although agreeing in late 1985 to a cease-fire, the NRA continued fighting, and seized Kampala and the country in late January [[1986]], forcing Okello's forces to flee north into [[Sudan]]. Museveni's forces organized a government with Museveni as president. Since assuming power, the government dominated by the political grouping created by Museveni and his followers, the [[National Resistance Movement]] (NRM or the "Movement"), has largely put an end to the human rights abuses of earlier governments, initiated substantial political liberalization and general press freedom, and instituted broad economic reforms after consultation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and donor governments. In northern areas such as [[Acholiland]], there has been armed resistance against the government since [[1986]]. [[Acholi people|Acholi]] based rebel groups include the [[Uganda People's Democratic Army]] and the [[Holy Spirit Movement]]. Currently, the only remaining rebel group is the [[Lord's Resistance Army]] headed by [[Joseph Kony]], which has carried out widespread abduction of children to serve as soldiers or sex slaves. In 1996, Uganda was a key supporter of the overthrow of [[Zaire]]an President [[Mobutu Sese Seko]] in the [[First Congo War]] in favor of rebel leader [[Laurent-Désiré Kabila]]. Between [[1998]] and [[2003]], the Ugandan army was involved in the [[Second Congo War]] in the renamed [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] and the government continues to support rebel groups such as the [[Movement for the Liberation of Congo]] and some factions of the [[Rally for Congolese Democracy]]. In August 2005, Parliament voted to change the constitution to lift presidential term limits, allowing Museveni to run for a third term if he wishes to do so. In a [[Uganda multiparty referendum, 2005|referendum in July, 2005]], 92.5% supported restoring multiparty politics, thereby scrapping the no-party or "movement" system. [[Kizza Besigye]], Museveni's political rival, returned from exile in [[October 2005]], and was a presidential candidate for the 2006 elections. In the same month, Milton Obote died in South Africa. Museveni won the February 2006 presidential election. ==See also== *[[Luo (family of ethnic groups)|Luo History]] *[[Buganda]] *[[History of Africa]] *[[History of present-day nations and states]] ==References== *{{loc}} - [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ugtoc.html Uganda] *U.S. State Department [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2963.htm#history Background Note: Uganda] *[http://www.africa.upenn.edu/NEH/uethnic.htm East Africa Living Encyclopedia], African Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania *[http://www.bunyoro-kitara.com/history2.htm#The%20Babiito Origins of Bunyoro-Kitara Kings], Bunyoro-Kitara website *{{cite|author=Phyllis Martin and Patrick O'Meara|title=Africa. 3rd edition|publisher=Indiana University Press|date=August 1995}} {{Africa topic|History of}} {{Uganda topics}} <!--Other languages--> <!--Categories--> [[Category:History of Uganda| ]] [[Category:National histories|Uganda]] {{Link FA|de}} <!--Interwiki--> [[de:Geschichte Ugandas]] [[es:Historia de Uganda]] [[fr:Histoire de l'Ouganda]] [[it:Storia dell'Uganda]] [[he:היסטוריה של אוגנדה]] [[pt:História de Uganda]] [[ru:История Уганды]] [[sv:Ugandas historia]] [[vec:Storia de l'Uganda]]