Uganda

Official Name: Republic of Uganda

Population: 47.5 million

Capital City: Kampala

Form of Government: Multiparty republic with one legislative house (Parliament)

Official Language: English and Swahili (with many, many other languages spoken: Luganda being the most widely spoken)

Currency: Ugandan Shilling

Borders: Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, and Lake Victoria

About Uganda

Dubbed “The Pearl of Africa” and “a fairy tale,” by Winston Churchill in 1908, this country in East Africa has a surprise around every turn.

With a population of around 49 million, Uganda is made up of traditional Kingdoms, including: the Buganda in the south, the Bunyoro in the northwest, the Toro in the West, and Busoga in the East. There’s also the Ankole in the Southwest, which has since been “abolished.”

There are said to be 56 tribes in Uganda, but counting the kingdoms and tribes and defining their borders can be tricky, due to the colonial history and everything in between that has tried to disrupt the order of things.

In the “Scramble for Africa” when European explorers were carving up the territory to divide amongst themselves, they cut up traditional territories, and modern day borders have split up some Kingdoms.

What interested me most about Uganda is how many different tribes, peoples, languages, cultures and customs are spread around the territory. During my travels across the country, I learned how to say “thank you” in at least five different languages!
For instance, the largest tribe is Baganda. The Baganda, the people, occupy Buganda, the land, and speak Luganda, the language.

The Kingdom of Buganda had a very structured hierarchy, which attracted the British when forming its “protectorate” or “colony.” So much so that the Brits left the Kabaka, the Bagandan King, in place; and despite all the other kingdoms and tribes, made the Kabaka the de facto ruler of Britain’s Uganda, after having changed the borders of East Africa for Europe’s own dealings.

Despite the fact that the Kingdom of Buganda is the largest, and it in many ways dominates the narrative of how modern day Uganda has evolved, there’s so much under the surface of what Uganda was, is and could be.

Lake Victoria, shared between Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, is Africa’s largest lake and the second largest freshwater lake in the world after Lake Superior. Human activity on Lake Victoria dates back 50,000 years!

The first foreigners arrived in Uganda in the mid-19th century: Arab traders in search of slaves and ivory brought Islam to the country. Christian missionaries then arrived, followed by European traders, and arms dealers.

In 1888, When the Buganda King Mwanga II attempted to outlaw various religious factions, he was deposed. A Civil War followed and ultimately the Christians defeated the Muslims, after which the British Protestants defeated the German Catholics and in 1894, Britain created a protectorate over Buganda and ultimately some of the other nearby kingdoms.

Uganda gained independence in 1962. The Bagandan Kabaka was declared the president and Dr. Milton Obote, became Prime Minister. Tensions grew and Dr. Obote abolished the Kingdoms and the role of Kabaka as president, grasping more power for himself. Obote sent the army to the Royal Palace and 2,000 Baganda were killed. Obote made Uganda a republic, divided up the kingdom of Buganda, and gave the army unlimited powers without trial.

In 1971, Idi Amin seized power. At first he was very popular, he soon became extremely oppressive and expelled over 60,000 Ugandan Asians of East Indian ancestry, in a “Ugandanization of Private Businesses.” Many people were tortured or killed as a result of Idi Amin’s actions; human rights abuses abound, and many political dissidents or perceived rivals were killed, as well as various ethnic groups. Amin tried to anex part of Tanzania, starting a war, which led to Amin’s downfall. In 1979, Amin was overthrown, and Milton Obote eventually returned to the Presidency from 1980-1985.

Civil war in the 1980’s brought Yoweri Museveni to power, who’s held onto it ever since.

For the next two decades, conflicts continued in the North provoked by the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony, who kidnapped kids and turned them into soldiers, responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people. Kony was driven from the country in 2008, and has been in hiding ever since.

While there have been Presidential elections, Museveni strikes down opposition at every chance he gets. The most well known example is that of popular singer Bobby Wine, who ran for president in 2021, and endured threats to himself and his security team. Bobby Wine lost, though questions remain of the election’s validity.

At over 1,000 different species, Uganda has one of the largest number of recorded bird species in the world. I was awed by the rare Shoebill Stork, and scared stiff by the humongous marabou storks walking the streets of Entebbe like they own the place.

With over 350 different species of mammals, East Africa also has the highest concentration of mountain gorillas left in the world, about half of the 1,000 gorillas remaining live in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, which borders the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. Uganda and Rwanda also hosts the only remaining Golden Monkey population, and a robust population of chimpanzees.