As Uganda celebrates 50 years of independence, Collison Lore examines how the country has progressed

Uganda, a half a century on……

Uganda gained her independence on October 9th 1962. Since 1894 the country had been a British protectorate that was put together from some very organized kingdoms and chieftaincies that inhabited the lake regions of central Africa. At independence, Dr. Milton Apollo Obote, also leader of the Uganda People's Congress (UPC) became the first Prime Minister and head of the government.

The Republican leaning UPC came into power through an "unholy" alliance with a pro-monarchy party called the Kabaka Yekka (KY), which had a stated aim of protecting the institution and power of the kingdom of Buganda. The UPC had earlier on, one year before independence, lost the first ever general election to the Democratic Party (DP) and now needed the strategic partnership of allies to avoid another defeat.

In November 1963, Kabaka Mutesa II King of Buganda was elected ceremonial President of Uganda thus seemingly sealing the political alliance of UPC and KY. However, this marriage of political convenience was short lived since both Obote and Mutesa and their following had differing agendas.

The coup d’état of January 1971 ushered in the military junta of General Idi Amin, whose rule completely disoriented the young state. The instability of the early independence years dogged the young nation well into the 1980s. The 1970s were a lost decade, for the country which had a promising start was plagued by chaos and the loss of significant manpower. This dark period would last 8 long years. It was also during this period that all Asians, mainly Indians, were expelled from Uganda.

As a result, the economy of Uganda suffered tremendously. The fiscal mismanagement and insecurity that followed eroded any early gains. Sadly, an estimated 300,000 Ugandans lost their lives through indiscriminate extra judicial killings during Idi Amin's regime. The chaos that affected Uganda, mirrored the state of the wider African continent. Uganda’s currency lost value and its manufacturing and export sector collapsed.

The war between Uganda and Tanzania provided a perfect opportunity for the forces of liberation to launch a struggle. The struggle led to the fall of the dictator in April 1979, and this also ushered in another era of instability. The first Uganda National Liberation Front government was led by Prof. Yusuf Lule as President and only lasted 68 days.

President Lule was followed by President Godfrey Binaisa, and then Paulo Muwanga who chaired the ruling Military Commission which organized the December 1980 general elections. UPC was declared winner of those elections, though they were marred by multiple irregularities and generally considered rigged.

For a second time, Obote became President of Uganda. During Obote's second tenure as president, insecurity, fuelled by the government's own security organs as well as an ongoing liberation struggle, devastated the country. In 1980, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, then Vice Chairman of the Military Commission and President of the Uganda Patriotic Movement, launched a liberation struggle. This was in direct protest to the rigged elections. The pressure exerted on the Obote Government led to a coup d’état. The Military Junta of Generals Bazilio and Tito Okello replaced Obote's government. In February 26th 1986 the "Okellos Junta" fell and shortly after Uganda was under the National Resistance Army.

The National Resistance Movement Government under President Yoweri Museveni embarked on an effective national building process. The NRM sought to avoid the pitfalls of previous regimes of corruption, tribalism and sectarianism to ensure that the new government was not to suffer the same fate.  The NRM established a four-year interim government, composing a broader ethnic base than its predecessors. The Movement System proposed a no party system that would check the divisive evils of a multiparty system. The non-party system did not prohibit political parties, but prevented them from fielding candidates directly in elections. The “Movement" system became a cornerstone in politics for close to two decades.

The rebuilding of Uganda’s economy began in earnest in the late 1980s when the devaluation of the currency and subtle steps towards liberalization began. The government began participating in an IMF Economic Recovery Program in 1987. Its objectives included the restoration of incentives in order to encourage growth, investment, employment and exports; the promotion and diversification of trade with particular emphasis on export promotion; the removal of bureaucratic constraints and divestment from ailing public enterprises so as to enhance sustainable economic growth and development through the private sector; the liberalization of trade at all levels.

A system of Resistance Councils, directly elected at the parish level, was established to manage local affairs. The election of Resistance Councils representatives was the first direct experience many Ugandans had with democracy after many decades of varying levels of authoritarianism.

The struggle against HIV/AIDS began in earnest with Uganda becoming a pioneer in developing coping models for mitigating the effects of HIV/AIDS. From a high of close to 30 percent infection, political will and commitment saw a drop in rates to today’s single digits.  The multi-sectoral approach developed by Ugandan stakeholders appreciated the fact HIV/AIDS cuts across all sectors and requires a joint approach.

By the early 1990s, the NRM Government had gathered considerable international and national goodwill. The government moved away from its Marxist agenda and fully adopted the market driven principles of liberalization and privatization. Uganda was one of the first countries in Africa to liberalize its communication policy. The entry of mobile phone providers and the launch of FM stations are a clear case in point. Furthermore greater efforts were placed on privatizing government parastatals that were often loss making and hence a drain on the state coffers.

The government established a well structured Privatization Unit that oversaw the privatization process to its logical conclusion. The government appreciated early in the day that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into the country were essential. In this context the government set up the Uganda Investment Authority, alongside the Uganda Export Promotion Board among a host of others to boost investment and export. Other key institutions formed include the Uganda Wildlife Authority to boost tourism. There has been a clear Tourism Industry Master plan to guide the development of the tourism sector in Uganda.

In the mid-1990s, the NRM Government realized that all its economic endeavors would come to naught if poverty was not addressed head-on. This motivated the government to prepare the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP). The PEAP guided the formulation of government policy since its inception in 1997. Uganda's Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) was established on four major pillars:

The efforts of the NRM Government in combating poverty have borne fruit, with levels of poverty reducing from survey after survey.

Key sectors in Uganda’s economy continue to show remarkable growth, these include:

By 2000, the government of Uganda had commenced efforts to explore for oil in the country. These efforts have paid off handsomely and it is now envisaged that the country will start producing oil in two years time, while a ‘mini-refinery’ will be operational by 2017. Experts in the county forecast that the country shall start at low levels of production - three to five thousand barrels of oil per day - which will be used for thermal generation. In four years’ time, the country shall have a small refinery of 20,000 barrels per day [bpd], which will be upgraded to 60,000 bpd in five years time, and expanded to 120,000 bpd in eight years time.

The government envisages that after about 80 years of independence, the Vision 2040 will result in significant transformation of the country. This Vision Framework provides plans and strategies to operationalize the Ugandan vision which is “A transformed Ugandan society from a peasant to a modern and prosperous country within 30 years”.

It aims at transforming Uganda from a predominantly peasant and low income country to a competitive upper middle income country with per capita income of about USD 9,500. Over this period, average real GDP growth rate will be over 8.2 per cent per annum translating into total GDP of about US $580.5bn with a projected population of 61.3 million. This will match the level of development observed in upper middle income (UMI) countries such as Malaysia, Mauritius, Hungary and Chile.

Uganda at fifty has laid a crucial foundation for social economic transformation.