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U.S. Department of State

Background Notes: Republic of Uganda, February 1998

Released by the Office of East African Affairs, Bureau of African Affairs.

Official Name: Republic of Uganda

PROFILE

Geography

Area: 241,040 sq. km. (93,070 sq. mi.); about the size of Oregon. Cities: Capital--Kampala (1991 pop. 774,214). Other cities--Jinja, Mbale, Mbarara.
Terrain: 18% inland water and swamp; 12% national parks, forest, and game reserves; 70% forest, woodland, grassland.
Climate: In the northeast, semi-arid--rainfall less than 50 cm. (20 in.); in southwest, rainfall 130 cm. (50 in.) or more. Two dry seasons: Dec.-Feb. and June-July.

People

Nationality: Noun and adjective--Ugandan(s).
Population (1995): 19 million.
Annual growth rate (1994): 2.9%.
Ethnic groups: African 99%, European, Asian, Arab 1%.
Religions: Christian 66%, Muslim 16%, traditional and other 18%.
Languages: English (official); Luganda and Swahili widely used; other Bantu and Nilotic languages.
Education: Attendance (1995, primary school enrollment, public and private)--56%.
Literacy (1993)--62%.
Health: Infant mortality rate--81/1,000. Life expectancy--37 yrs.

Government

Type: No-party "Movement" system.
Constitution: The new Constitution was ratified on July 12, 1995, and promulgated on October 8, 1995. Uganda held its first presidential election under the 1995 Constitution on May 9, 1996, followed by parliamentary elections on June 27, 1996. The Constitution provides for an executive president, to be elected every five years, but with significant requirements for parliamentary approval of presidential actions.
Independence: October 9, 1962.
Branches: Executive--president, vice president, prime minister, cabinet. Legislative--parliament. There are 214 directly elected representatives and special indirectly elected seats for representatives of women 39, youth 5, workers 3, disabled 5, and the army 10. Judiciary--magistrates courts, High Court, Court of Appeals, Supreme Court.
Administrative subdivisions: 45 districts (6 recently authorized).
Political parties (political party activity is largely suspended): Uganda People's Congress (UPC), Democratic Party (DP), Conservative Party (CP).
Suffrage: Universal adult.
National holiday: Independence Day, Oct. 9.
Flag: Six horizontal stripes--black, yellow, red, black, yellow, red with the national emblem, the crested crane, in a centered white circle.

Economy

GDP (1994): $5.155 billion.
Inflation rate (December 1996): Approx. 4.4%.
Natural resources: Copper, cobalt, limestone.
Agriculture: Cash crops--coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, sugarcane, cut flowers, vanilla. Food crops--bananas, corn, cassava, potatoes, millet, pulses (largely self-sufficient in food). Livestock and fisheries--beef, goat meat, milk, nile perch, tilapia.
Industry: Types--processing of agricultural products (cotton ginning, coffee curing), cement production, light consumer goods, textiles.
Trade (1995-96): Exports--$624.5 million: coffee, cotton, tobacco, tea. Major market--EU. Imports (1994-95)--$1.193 billion: petroleum products, machinery, cotton, textiles, metals, transportation equipment. Major suppliers--OPEC countries, EU.
Exchange rate (March 1998): Uganda shillings 1,155=US $1.
Fiscal year: July 1-June 30.

PEOPLE AND HISTORY

Africans of three main ethnic groups--Bantu, Nilotic, and Nilo-Hamitic constitute most of the population. The Bantu are the most numerous and include the Baganda, which, with about 3 million members (18% of the population), constitute the largest single ethnic group.

The people of the southwest comprise 30% of the population, divided into five major ethnic groups: the Banyankole and Bahima,10%; the Bakiga, 8%; the Banyarwanda, 6%; the Bunyoro, 3%; and the Batoro, 3%). Residents of the north, largely Nilotic, are the next largest group, including the Langi, 6% and the Acholi, 4%. In the northwest are the Lugbara, 4%, and the Karamojong, 2% occupy the considerably drier, largely pastoral territory in the northeast. Europeans, Asians, and Arabs make up about 1% of the population with other groups accounting for the remainder. Uganda's population is predominately rural, and its density is highest in the southern regions.

Until 1972, Asians constituted the largest nonindigenous ethnic group in Uganda. In that year, the Idi Amin regime expelled 50,000 Asians, who had been engaged in trade, industry, and various professions. In the years since Amin's overthrow in 1979, Asians have slowly returned. About 3,000 Arabs of various national origins and small numbers of Asians live in Uganda. Other nonindigenous people in Uganda include several hundred Western missionaries and a few diplomats and business people.

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 African kingdoms with well-developed political institutions dating back several centuries. 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.

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 Buganda was placed under a formal British protectorate.

Britain granted internal self-government to Uganda in 1961, with the first elections held on March 1, 1961. Benedicto Kiwanuka of the Democratic Party became the first Chief Minister. Uganda maintained its 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, assumed all government powers, and removed the 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. On January 25, 1971, Obote's government was ousted in a 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 8-year rule produced economic decline, social disintegration, and massive human rights violations. The Acholi and Langi tribes were particular objects of Amin's political persecution because Obote and many of his supporters belonged to those tribes and constituted the largest group in 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 much higher.

In October 1978, Tanzanian armed forces repulsed an incursion of Amin's troops into Tanzanian territory. The Tanzanian force, backed by Ugandan exiles, waged a war of liberation against Amin's troops and Libyan soldiers sent to help him. On April 11, 1979, Kampala was captured, and Amin fled with his remaining forces.

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 President 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 President 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 lay 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 Acholi troops and commanded by Lt. Gen. Basilio 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 the insurgent forces of Yoweri Museveni 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 murdered civilians and ravaged the countryside in order to destroy the NRA's support.

Negotiations between the Okello government and the NRA were conducted in Nairobi in the fall of 1985, with Kenyan President Daniel Moi seeking a cease-fire and a coalition government in Uganda. Although agreeing in late 1985 to a cease-fire, the NRA continued fighting, seized Kampala in late January 1986, and assumed control of the country, forcing Okello 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), has largely put an end to the human rights abuses of earlier governments, overseen the successful efforts of a human rights commission established to investigate previous abuses, 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. A constitutional commission was named to draft a new constitution, which was debated and ratified by a popularly elected constituent assembly on July 12, 1995 and promulgated by President Museveni on October 8, 1995.

Under the transitional provisions of the new constitution, the "movement system" will continue for five years, including explicit restrictions on activities of political parties, which are nonetheless active. The Constitution also calls for a referendum in the fourth year (the year 2000) to determine whether or not Uganda will adopt a multi-party system of democracy.

Insurgent groups, the largest of which--the Lord's Resistance Army--receives support from Sudan--harass government forces and murder and kidnap civilians in the north and west. They do not, however, threaten the stability of the government. Due to Sudanese support of various guerrilla movements, Uganda severed diplomatic relations with Sudan on April 22, 1995, and contacts between the Government of Uganda and the National Islamic Front-dominated Government of Sudan remain limited.

GOVERNMENT

The executive consists of officials who predominantly espouse movement political views. Yoweri Museveni is the President and Minister of Defense, Dr. Specioza Wandira Kazibwe is the Vice President, and Kintu Musoke is the Prime Minister. The Minister of Foreign Affairs is Eriya Kategaya.

Legislative responsibility is vested in the 276-person parliament, whose members were elected in June 1996. The Ugandan judiciary operates as an independent branch of government and consists of magistrates courts, the high court, the court of appeals (which also hears constitutional cases as the "constitutional court") and the Supreme Court.

Principal Government Officials
President and Minister of Defense--Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
Vice President--Dr. (Mrs.) Specioza W. Kazibwe
Prime Minister--Kintu Musoke
Foreign Minister--Eriya Kategaya
Ambassador to the United States--Edith G. Ssempala

Uganda maintains an embassy in the United States at 5909 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20011 (tel. 202-726-7100).

ECONOMY

Uganda's economy has great potential. Endowed with significant natural resources, including ample fertile land, regular rainfall, and mineral deposits, it appeared poised for rapid economic growth and development at independence. Yet, chronic political instability and erratic economic management produced a record of persistent economic decline that left Uganda among the world's poorest and least-developed countries.

After the turmoil of the Amin era, the country began a program of economic recovery in 1981 that received considerable foreign assistance. From mid-1984 on, however, overly expansionist fiscal and monetary policies and the renewed outbreak of civil strife led to a setback in economic performance.

Since assuming power in early 1986, the government of President Museveni has taken important steps toward economic rehabilitation. The country's infrastructure--notably its transportation and communications systems which were destroyed by war and neglect--is being rebuilt. Recognizing the need for increased external support, Uganda negotiated a policy framework paper with the IMF and the World Bank in 1987. It subsequently began implementing economic policies designed to restore price stability and sustainable balance of payments, improve capacity utilization, rehabilitate infrastructure, restore producer incentives through proper price policies, and improve resource mobilization and allocation in the public sector. By 1990, these policies were beginning to produce results. Inflation, which ran at 240% in 1987 and 42% in June 1992, was 3.4% in 1994/95 and 5.4% for fiscal year 1995/96.

Investment as a percentage of GDP is estimated at 18.3% in 1995/96 compared to 17.9% in 1994/95. Private sector investment, largely financed by private transfers from abroad, was 12.3% of GDP in 1995/96. Gross National Savings as a percentage of GDP was estimated at 20.9% in 1995/96. The Ugandan Government also has worked with donor countries to reschedule or cancel substantial portions of the country's external debts.

Agricultural products supply nearly all of Uganda's foreign exchange earnings, with coffee alone (of which Uganda is Africa's leading producer) accounting for about 65% of the country's exports in 1995/96. Exports of hides, skins, vegetables, fruits, cut flowers, and fish are growing, and cotton, tea, and tobacco continue to be mainstays.

Most industry is related to agriculture. The industrial sector is being rehabilitated to resume production of building and construction materials, such as cement, reinforcing rods, corrugated roofing sheets, and paint. Domestically produced consumer goods include plastics, soap, cork, beer, and soft drinks.

Uganda has about 30,000 kilometers (18,750 mi.), of roads; some 2,800 kilometers (1,750 mi.) are paved. Most radiate from Kampala. The country has about 1,350 kilometers (800 mi.) of rail lines. A railroad originating at Mombasa on the Indian Ocean connects with Tororo, where it branches westward to Jinja, Kampala, and Kasese and northward to Mbale, Soroti, Lira, Gulu, and Kapwach. Uganda's important road and rail links to Mombasa serve its transport needs and also those of its neighbors--Rwanda, Burundi, and parts of Zaire and Sudan. An international airport is at Entebbe on the shore of Lake Victoria, some 32 kilometers (20 mi.) south of Kampala.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

The Ugandan Government seeks good relations with all nations and welcomes contacts without reference to ideological orientation. Relations with Kenya have been periodically strained because of security concerns and occasional disagreements on trade.

In the past, neighbors were concerned about Uganda's relationship with Libya, which had supplied military equipment and bartered fuel to Uganda. In addition to its friendly ties to Western nations, Uganda has maintained ties with North Korea. Uganda's strained relations with Sudan have been due to Sudan's support of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and other rebel groups. The LRA seeks to overthrow the Uganda Government and has inflicted brutal violence on the population in northern Uganda, including rape, kidnapping, torture, and murder.

A group operating in western Uganda near the Rwenzori Mountains, the Allied Democratic Forces, emerged as a localized threat in 1996 and has inflicted substantial suffering on the population in the area.


DEFENSE

The Uganda Peoples Defense Force (UPDF)--previously the National Resistance Army--constitutes the armed forces of Uganda. Due to the Sudanese-backed insurgencies, the Ministry of Defense increased defense spending in 1995, 1996, and 1997. In 1996, the United States announced that it would provide $4.5 million in non-lethal military assistance to Uganda to assist in maintaining internal security. U.S. military forces also have participated with the UPDF in training activities for the African Crisis Response Initiative.

U.S.-UGANDAN RELATIONS

U.S.-Ugandan relations were strained and ultimately all but broken during Idi Amin's rule. In 1973, persistent security problems and increasingly difficult operating circumstances forced withdrawal of U.S. Peace Corps volunteers and the termination of bilateral U.S. economic assistance. In November 1973, after repeated public threats against U.S. embassy officials and after the expulsion of Marine security guards responsible for protecting U.S. Government property and personnel, the embassy was closed. In 1978, Congress legislated an embargo of all U.S trade with Uganda.

Relations improved after Amin's fall. In mid-1979, the United States reopened its embassy in Kampala. Relations with successor governments were cordial, although Obote and his administration rejected strong U.S. criticism of Uganda's human rights situation. Bilateral relations between the United States and Uganda have been good since Museveni assumed power, and the United States has welcomed his efforts to end human rights abuses and to pursue economic reform. At the same time, the United States remains concerned about continuing human rights problems and the pace of progress toward the establishment of political pluralism.

In the early-to mid-1980s, the United States provided about $10 million in assistance to Uganda annually, mostly in the form of humanitarian aid (food, medical supplies, hospital rehabilitation, and disaster relief) and agricultural equipment needed to promote economic recovery in the food and cash crop sectors of Uganda's rural economy. The U.S. Agency for International Development currently is funding a multifaceted development program at a level of about $50 million per year, both direct assistance and Food for Peace commodities.

The U.S. Information Agency has carried out a cultural exchange program aiding the National Theater and other cultural institutions, bringing Fulbright professors to teach at Makerere University, and sponsoring U.S. study and tour programs for many government officials. U.S. Peace Corps maintains volunteers in the country working in small enterprise development, natural resources management, and education.

Significant contributions to Ugandan health care, nutrition, education, and park systems from U.S. missionaries, non-governmental organizations, private universities, AIDS researchers, and wildlife organizations have brought long-term benefits to U.S.-Ugandan relations.

Principal U.S. Officials
Ambassador--Nancy J. Powell
Deputy Chief of Mission--Peter Michael McKinley
Public Affairs Officer--Virgil Bodeen
Director, USAID--Donald Clark

The U.S. embassy in Uganda is in the British High Commission Building on Parliament Avenue, Kampala (tel. 259792/3/5) (fax: 259-794).

TRAVEL AND BUSINESS INFORMATION

The U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program provides Travel Warnings and Consular Information Sheets. Travel Warnings are issued when the State Department recommends that Americans avoid travel to a certain country. Consular Information Sheets exist for all countries and include information on immigration practices, currency regulations, health conditions, areas of instability, crime and security, political disturbances, and the addresses of the U.S. posts in the country. Public Announcements are issued as a means to disseminate information quickly about terrorist threats and other relatively short-term conditions overseas which pose significant risks to the security of American travelers. Free copies of this information are available by calling the Bureau of Consular Affairs at 202-647-5225 or via the fax-on-demand system: 202-647-3000. Travel Warnings and Consular Information Sheets also are available on the Consular Affairs Internet home page: http://travel.state.gov and the Consular Affairs Bulletin Board (CABB). To access CABB, dial the modem number: (301-946-4400 (it will accommodate up to 33,600 bps), set terminal communications program to N-8-1 (no parity, 8 bits, 1 stop bit); and terminal emulation to VT100. The login is travel and the password is info (Note: Lower case is required). The CABB also carries international security information from the Overseas Security Advisory Council and Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Consular Affairs Trips for Travelers publication series, which contain information on obtaining passports and planning a safe trip abroad, can be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954; telephone: 202-512-1800; fax 202-512-2250.

Emergency information concerning Americans traveling abroad may be obtained from the Office of Overseas Citizens Services at (202) 647-5225. For after-hours emergencies, Sundays and holidays, call 202-647-4000.

Passport Services information can be obtained by calling the 24-hour, 7-day a week automated system ($.35 per minute) or live operators 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (EST) Monday-Friday ($1.05 per minute). The number is 1-900-225-5674 (TDD: 1-900-225-7778). Major credit card users (for a flat rate of $4.95) may call 1-888-362-8668 (TDD: 1-888-498-3648)

Travelers can check the latest health information with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. A hotline at (404) 332-4559 gives the most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations or requirements, and advice on food and drinking water safety for regions and countries. A booklet entitled Health Information for International Travel (HHS publication number CDC-95-8280) is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, tel. (202) 512-1800.

Information on travel conditions, visa requirements, currency and customs regulations, legal holidays, and other items of interest to travelers also may be obtained before your departure from a country's embassy and/or consulates in the U.S. (for this country, see "Principal Government Officials" listing in this publication).

U.S. citizens who are long-term visitors or traveling in dangerous areas are encouraged to register at the U.S. embassy upon arrival in a country (see "Principal U.S. Embassy Officials" listing in this publication). This may help family members contact you in case of an emergency.

Further Electronic Information:

Department of State Foreign Affairs Network. Available on the Internet, DOSFAN provides timely, global access to official U.S. foreign policy information. Updated daily, DOSFAN includes Background Notes; Dispatch, the official magazine of U.S. foreign policy; daily press briefings; Country Commercial Guides; directories of key officers of foreign service posts; etc. DOSFAN's World Wide Web site is at http://www.state.gov.

U.S. Foreign Affairs on CD-ROM (USFAC). Published annually by the U.S. Department of State, USFAC archives information on the Department of State Foreign Affairs Network, and includes an array of official foreign policy information from 1990 to the present. Contact the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954. To order, call (202) 512-1800 or fax (202) 512-2250.

National Trade Data Bank (NTDB). Operated by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the NTDB contains a wealth of trade-related information. It is available on the Internet (www.stat-usa.gov) and on CD-ROM. Call the NTDB Help-Line at (202) 482-1986 for more information.

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