Country Advice Uganda Uganda – UGA38734 – Political system – Tribal kingdoms – Kabaka – Ethnic clubs – Kampala riots – Discrimination – Blacklists – Dowries 31 May 2011 1. Please provide a map of Uganda and an indication of the locations of and distances between the capital Kampala, Masaka, the River Sezibwa and the Kayunga District. Map 11 shows the locations and approximate distances between Masaka and Kampala, as well as Kampala and Kayunga. Also shown is the Sezibwa River, which runs in a northerly direction from Lake Victoria to Lake Kyoga. Map 22 places these locations in context within a map of Uganda. Map 1 1 „Masaka Kampala Kayunga Sezibwa Uganda Zoom‟ 2005, University of Texas Libraries http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/africa/uganda_rel_2005.jpg – Accessed 17 May 2011 – Attachment 1 2 „Masaka Kampala Kayunga Uganda‟ 2005, University of Texas Libraries http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/africa/uganda_rel_2005.jpg – Accessed 17 May 2011 – Attachment 2 Page 1 of 14 Map 2 2. Please provide a brief background of the political, legal and civil systems and the relationship of the Ugandan government to the kingdoms of Uganda. The arrival of Arab traders into Uganda‟s interior in the 1830s revealed several African kingdoms with well-developed political institutions dating back several centuries. These traders were followed in the 1860s by British explorers, and in the 1870s by Protestant and Page 2 of 14 Catholic missionaries.3 Uganda became a British protectorate in 1894, achieved internal self- government in March 1962, and gained full independence within the Commonwealth in October of the same year. Buganda and three other tribal kingdoms were granted semi- autonomous rule within a federal system, and Buganda‟s kabaka (king) was elected Ugandan president in October 1963. The president was deposed in February 1966 by then Prime Minister Apollo Milton Obote, over the perceived issue of national unity versus Bugandan particularism. A constitution removing Buganda‟s autonomous status was ratified in April of that year, and when adopted in September 1967, the new republican constitution eliminated the special status of Buganda and the other kingdoms. Obote himself was overthrown in January 1971 while attending a Commonwealth meeting overseas. He was replaced by Major General Idi Amin, commander in chief of the army and air force, who suspended parts of the constitution, dissolved the National Assembly, and installed himself as president.4 In the wake of worldwide condemnation for atrocities against perceived opponents, the Amin regime was removed in an invasion by Tanzanian troops and exiled forces in April 1979. Former president Obote returned to Uganda in May 1980, and following disputed elections in December of that year, Obote regained his previous position as president. Former president Yusuf Lule, of the Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM), refused to accept the one seat the party had won. Lule formed the National Resistance Movement (NRM) and affiliated National Resistance Army (NRA), and commenced a guerrilla campaign against Obote. Over the next five years, the NRA maintained strategic territory north of Kampala, as well as its traditional stronghold in the Banyankore-dominated southwest. Obote was again deposed in July 1985, and was replaced by a Military Council, which was ultimately overthrown by the NRA six months later, installing Yoweri Musevini as president.5 On coming to power in 1986, the NRM introduced „no-party‟ democracy, under which only one political organisation, the NRM, was recognised. Under the constitution of 1995, a unicameral parliament is the source of legislative power, with 276 members, 214 of whom are elected and 62 appointed. Executive power is held by the president, who is directly elected for a five-year term. In 1995, the government established a legal system based on both customary law and British common law; there is a court of appeal and a high court, both with judges appointed by the president.6 In July 2005, a referendum resulted in the adoption of a multiparty system of government, while in September of that year, the parliament altered the constitution to remove term limits for the president, enabling Musevini to contest the 2006 elections. Musevini again retained power in elections held in February 2011.7 The Ugandan government‟s recent relationship with the country‟s kingdoms has been one largely of political convenience. After taking power, Museveni started negotiating with Baganda to restore its kabaka, which was thought to be political repayment for the Baganda people‟s support for the NRA in the early 1980s. In July 1993, Ronald Mutebi was crowned kabaka, though the role was described as „purely ceremonial‟. This was followed by pro forma recognition for the coronation of Patrick Kaboyo as monarch of the Toro kingdom, as 3 US Department of State 2011, „Background Note: Uganda‟, 2 March http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2963.htm – Accessed 18 May 2011 – Attachment 3 4 „Uganda‟ 2010, CQ Press Electronic Library, Political Handbook of the World Online Edition http://library.cqpress.com/phw/phw2010_Uganda – Accessed 4 June 2010 – Attachment 4 5 „Uganda‟ 2010, CQ Press Electronic Library, Political Handbook of the World Online Edition http://library.cqpress.com/phw/phw2010_Uganda – Accessed 4 June 2010 – Attachment 4 6 Culture of Uganda‟ (Undated), Every Culture website http://www.everyculture.com/To-Z/Uganda.html – Accessed 18 May 2011 – Attachment 5 7 US Department of State 2011, „Background Note: Uganda‟, 2 March http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2963.htm – Accessed 18 May 2011 – Attachment 3 Page 3 of 14 well as the coronation of the Bunyoro tribe‟s Solon Gafabusa. In 1996, Henry Muloki was reinstalled as the Basoga‟s kyabazinga (king) at a ceremony attended by Museveni.8 While the constitution prevents cultural leaders from participating in politics, they continue to wield influence over their respective communities.9 3. Please advise how many ethnic groups there are in Uganda and the names of the dominant ethnic groups. Can you give a description of the importance of the cultural leader, the Kabaka, to the Ugandan people and/ or Buganda people? According to the Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook 2011, the major ethnic groups in Uganda include: Baganda, 16.9%; Banyakole, 9.5%; Basoga, 8.4%; Bakiga, 6.9%; Iteso, 6.4%; Langi, 6.1%; Acholi, 4.7%; Bagisu, 4.6%; Lugbara, 4.2%; Bunyoro, 2.7%; and others totalling 29.6%.10 In the wake of the September 2009 Kampala riots (please refer to the response for Question 5), IRIN provided the following background information on some of the main kingdoms in Uganda. Baganda: the largest and most politically powerful ethnic community in Uganda, with an estimated five million people. During the colonial period, the British rewarded the kingdom for its collaboration by giving it territories belonging to the kingdom of Bunyoro. Buganda is located in the central region by Lake Victoria. Uganda‟s capital, Kampala, is also home to Mengo, the seat of the kabaka (king). Bunyoro: located in western Uganda next to Lake Albert, there are an estimated 700,000 people in the kingdom. Claiming to be the oldest East African kingdom, the Bunyoro opposed colonisation, which resulted in the loss of some of its territory. Ruled by an omukama, it is historically one of the most militarily powerful kingdoms, and possesses much of Uganda‟s recently discovered oil. Acholi: this northern Ugandan kingdom was traditionally organised into groups of clans ruled by a rwot, or paramount chief. An estimated two million Acholi have been displaced due to two decades of war between the government and separatist group the Lord‟s Resistance Army (LRA). The kingdom currently uses traditional Acholi justice mechanisms, such as mato oput, where an offender confesses to his crime and is absolved in the interests of peace and reconciliation. Busoga: one of Uganda‟s oldest kingdoms, Busoga is located on the eastern shore of Lake Victoria. An estimated two million subjects are ruled by a kyabazinga. Toro: formerly part of Bunyoro, the Toro kingdom has about 800,000 subjects, and is ruled by an omukama. The kingdom has close ties with Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi, who was made defender of the Toro kingdom in 2001. 8 „Uganda‟ 2010, CQ Press Electronic Library, Political Handbook of the World Online Edition http://library.cqpress.com/phw/phw2010_Uganda – Accessed 4 June 2010 – Attachment 4 9 Human Rights Watch 2009, Uganda: Investigate Use of Lethal Force During Riots, 1 October http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/10/01/uganda-troops-killed-unarmed-people-riot-period?tr=y&auid=5408929 – Accessed 5 October 2009 – Attachment 6 10 CIA World Factbook 2011, Uganda, 28 April https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world- factbook/geos/ug.html – Accessed 18 May 2011 – Attachment 7 Page 4 of 14 Banyankore (aka Banyankole): located in south western Uganda, the Banyankore are ruled by an omugabe. The population of 2.3 million consists of two groups, the pastoralist Bahima minority, and the agriculturalist Bairu majority.11 According to the official Buganda Kingdom website, the kabaka is respected by all of the people in the kingdom, regardless of traditional tribal affiliations. The kabaka is the ostensible head of Buganda with both administrative and cultural duties, and as the head of a centralised system of governance, has absolute power. Over time, kabakas have delegated power to others, such as Prime Ministers, Cabinet, and county and village Chiefs.12 The Baganda people have been referred to as the „King‟s Men‟, due to the significance of the role of the kabaka in their political, social and cultural institutions. Before the abolition of Uganda‟s kingdoms in 1967, the Baganda were organised into a centralised, bureaucratised kingdom. Following the 1993 reinstatement of the kabakaship, however, the kabaka has only symbolic, ritual functions, with no real political power.