Uganda

This work is a study of Uganda as a nation during the post-colonial era. The author looks at the problems the country faced during its first years of independence including the constitutional crisis following the abolition of the kingdoms; the demand by the Buganda kingdom for federal status and its refusal to accept a unitary state; the ouster of Kabaka Mutesa II from the presidency and his subsequent exile to Britain; the paradoxical nature of the demand by Buganda kingdom for federal status under a unitary state and of having a hereditary ruler, Mutesa, the king of Buganda, serving as president of a country that was not under a monarchy. He also looks at the difficulties in achieving national unity in a country divided by ethno-regional loyalties including kingdoms and other traditional centres of power; the division between Buganda and the rest of the country; the division between the north inhabited by Nilotic ethnic groups and the south that is predominantly Bantu; the role of the military and security forces, dominated by northerners, especially the Langi and the Acholi, in tilting the balance of power in favour of northern leaders; the 1971 military coup in which President Milton Obote was overthrown and which led to the rise of Idi Amin to power; the reign of terror under Amin; the 1980 general elections which led to the return of Obote to the presidency plunging the country into civil war which came to be known as The Bush War; and the rise of Yoweri Museveni to power and his status as the longest-serving president in the country's post-colonial history. The book is intended for members of the general public who want to learn more about the sociopolitical and economic developments as well as other major events which have taken place in Uganda in the post-colonial era. It is also intended for members of the academic community and can be used as a textbook on Uganda and in African studies in general.