In recent years Uganda has been transformed from one of Africa's poorest countries shattered by decades of conflict, into a model for development in Africa.

Our thanks to: www.globaleye.org.uk/secondary_autumn2002/eyeon

Uganda : History

      1700s       Uganda was home to the Bunyoro, Buganda, Busoga and Ankole peoples. Each group had their own traditions and spiritual beliefs

Archeology tells us that prehistoric man walked the earth in what is now Uganda. One of the more recent excavations is at Kiboro near Lake Albert, where there are traces of village life going back a thousand years.

Recorded history is much shorter - only 150 years. However, oral traditions are also important. The 19th century was a period of great change and great strife in Uganda.

1800sThe Baganda people grew in power, ruled by a king, or kabaka. Buganda became one of the richest and most sophisticated kingdoms in Africa.

Kabaka Chwa being carried to on a

journey

Young Kabaka Chwa (middle) amongst the

British rulers of Uganda

1888English Protestants and French Catholics arrived in East Africa to spread their beliefs.

Soon there was conflict between protestants, catholics and muslims who adopted Islam from Arab traders.

Civil war weakened the Buganda kingdom

When Missionaries Meant Guns:the History of Christianity in

Uganda

The first missionary arrived in 1875 and by 1900 Christianity was the established religion.

The king then asked his chiefs which book they wanted to follow... Mindful of the recent killings, they prudently chose the Bible

Christianity was very new to Uganda in 1885 when the first of 22 young Catholic converts gave his life as a martyr for his faith

1894Britain and Germany competed for power over this part of East Africa.

Both countries wanted to control the head-waters of the Nile found here.

Borders were drawn up, and the area called Uganda became a country under British control.

Unlike other colonies, the British ruled Uganda indirectly through the Baganda people. The Baganda were given special privileges so long as they collaborated with the British.

The British also brought in many craftsmen from Asia to increase industry and trade.

The British Empire

Deutsche – OstAfrika

German East Africa

1962Uganda gained independence from the British.

But the Baganda were reluctant to give up the special status they had enjoyed under British rule.

The kingdom of Buganda continued to exist within Uganda, and the Buganda king became the first president of Uganda.

Provisional First Flag

Coat of Arms

Official Flag

They set up governments over the Ugandans called a protectorate. They also established rules and made the Ugandan people follow them. Uganda was under the British rule until its independence in 1962.

1966Leader of the ruling party, the Uganda People's Congress, Milton Obote wrote a new constitution for the country.Under the new constitution, the Buganda kingdom was carved up and the king was forced to flee to the UK.

After three years as President, Obote banned all political parties and ruled Uganda as a dictator.

Apollo Milton Obote (born December 28, 1924) was President of Uganda from 1966 to 1971 and again from 1980 to 1985.

1971While Obote was out of the country, the army seized control of Uganda, under the leadership of a colonel called Idi Amin.

Amin began a new regime of terror, and declared himself President for life.

He spied on his enemies, and tortured or murdered thousands.

Amin also ordered the 90,000 Ugandan Asians to leave the country.

While President of Uganda from 1971 to1979 Idi Amin committed appalling acts of violence against the people of his country

In 1972, he expelled Uganda's Indian and Pakistani populations, people who owned most of Uganda's businesses. This hastened the country's economic decline.

1986Civil war had left a million dead, 600,000 injured and the economy virtually bankrupt.

People had had enough, and support for a new party called the National Resistance Movement grew.

The National Resistance Movement seized power.

President Museveni

When I was in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to see the Gorillas, the President, Yoweri Museveni was also there in order to promote tourism and show how safe it now was

(this was a year after what became known as the Bwindi incident occurred, when nineteen tourists and their guides were massacred by Congolese rebels).

2002Museveni remains President of Uganda after he was re-elected for the third time in 2001.

2004 Ongoing troubles in north of country

Children from villages being kidnapped and forced to join rebel armies

2004

Uganda. The Government is trying to disarm the Karimojong but they claim they need guns to defend their cattle against raiding from Kenya and by the LRA (Lords Resistance Army) rebels.