History of Uganda (1979–1986) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Republic of Uganda Jamhuri ya Uganda
1979–1986
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: "Oh Uganda, Land of Beauty"
Capital	Kampala
Government	Dominant-party presidential republic (1979–1985) Military dictatorship (1985–1986)
President
• 1979	Yusuf Lule
• 1979–1980	Godfrey Binaisa
• 1980	Paulo Muwanga
Vice President
• 1980–1985	Paulo Muwanga
Prime Minister
• 1980–1985	Otema Allimadi
History
• Established	13 April 1979
• 1980 Ugandan general election	10 December 1980
• Coup d'état	27 July 1985
• Disestablished	26 January 1986
Preceded by Succeeded by Second Republic of Uganda Fourth Republic of Uganda

The History of Uganda from 1979 to 1986 covers the time in Uganda after the rule of Idi Amin. This period includes the second time Milton Obote was president. It also covers the start of Yoweri Museveni's presidency in 1986. Since then, the National Resistance Movement has largely controlled Ugandan politics.

Uganda After Amin (1979–1986)

Starting a New Government

Before the city of Kampala was captured during the Uganda-Tanzania War, leaders from 22 Ugandan groups met in Tanzania. They wanted to agree on a temporary government for Uganda after Amin was gone. This meeting was called the Unity Conference. It created the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) to represent the army. Yusuf Lule, a former university leader, became the head of the UNLF.

Lule was chosen because he was not seen as a threat by any of the groups. After Amin left, Lule and the UNLF moved to Kampala. They set up a temporary government. Lule became president, guided by a temporary parliament called the National Consultative Council (NCC).

Changes in Leadership

Soon, problems arose between Lule and some NCC members. They thought he was too old-fashioned and too bossy. After only three months, Lule was removed from office and sent away. This happened with the approval of Julius Nyerere, whose troops were still in Kampala. Godfrey Binaisa replaced Lule. Binaisa was also from the Muganda group, like Lule. He had worked with Milton Obote before.

This was a difficult start for rebuilding Uganda. The country needed political and economic stability. The arguments within the NCC showed that many politicians were only looking out for themselves. Ugandans who had suffered under Amin became even more disappointed. Binaisa stayed in office longer than Lule. But he could not control the growing military, which led to his downfall.

Military Influence and a Coup

The country's armed forces were small after Amin was removed. But leaders like Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and Major General David Oyite Ojok began to recruit many new soldiers. The army grew quickly. Binaisa tried to stop these new militias from bothering political opponents. Because of this, he was overthrown in a military takeover on May 10, 1980.

General Ojok, Museveni, and others planned this takeover. They were guided by Paulo Muwanga, who was Obote's close ally and head of the Military Commission. Tanzania's army was still helping with security. But Nyerere did not help Binaisa stay in power. Many Ugandans believed Nyerere helped his old friend, Milton Obote, return to power. The Military Commission, led by Muwanga, ran Uganda for six months until the elections in December 1980.

The Military Commission planned to spend a lot of money on security and defense. This was more than 30 percent of the country's income. This seemed too much for a country trying to recover its economy.

The 1980 Election

Soon after the 1980 takeover, Obote returned from Tanzania. He began to gather his old supporters for the December elections. He often appeared with General Oyite-Ojok, who was also from the Lango group. Obote also started talking about Uganda becoming a one-party state again.

The election on December 10, 1980, was very important. It was the first election in 18 years. Several parties ran, but the main ones were Obote's UPC and the DP, led by Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere. Many Roman Catholics and others who did not want Obote back supported the DP.

The Military Commission, which was the acting government, was controlled by Obote's supporters. This gave the UPC many advantages. For example, 17 UPC candidates were declared winners without anyone running against them. Also, officials who were supposed to oversee the voting were replaced with UPC supporters. The head judge, who would handle election complaints, was also replaced by a UPC member. Some non-UPC candidates were arrested, and one was killed.

On election day, many people voted. The DP believed they had won in 81 out of 126 areas. News channels like the BBC reported a DP victory. Kampala streets were filled with DP supporters celebrating. But then, Muwanga took control of the election counting. He said anyone who questioned his count would be fined and jailed. Eighteen hours later, Muwanga announced that the UPC had won 72 seats. Some DP candidates said ballot boxes were simply swapped to give their votes to the UPC.

A small group of neutral observers, the Commonwealth Observer Group, said they were happy with the election's fairness. However, some Ugandans criticized them. They felt the observers used different standards for African elections. They also thought the observers might have feared a civil war if the results were questioned. In fact, many people believed the election was stolen. This belief actually helped cause the civil war that the observers might have feared.

Obote's Second Term (1981–1985)

In February 1981, after Obote's new government started, Paulo Muwanga became vice president. Yoweri Museveni, a former Military Commission member, and his armed supporters formed the National Resistance Army (NRA). Museveni promised to remove Obote from power through a rebellion. This started what was called "the war in the bush." Other groups also tried to fight the new government, but they were defeated. Museveni, who had experience in guerrilla warfare, fought in rural areas that did not support Obote. These areas were mainly in central and western Buganda, and the western regions of Ankole and Bunyoro.

Obote's government fought for four years to defeat these challengers. This led to widespread destruction and more deaths than during Amin's eight years. The UNLA soldiers, many of whom were Acholi and Lango, were quickly recruited. They had little training and poor discipline. They had survived Amin's attacks on their own people. But in the 1980s, they attacked Bantu-speaking Ugandans in the south.

In early 1983, the government tried to remove support for Museveni's fighters. They forced almost 750,000 people from the Luwero District, north of Kampala. These people became refugees and were put into camps controlled by the military. This meant they suffered abuse from soldiers. Civilians outside these camps, in what was called the "Luwero Triangle," were thought to be fighters or their supporters. They were treated badly. Farms in this rich farming area were looted. Soldiers even stole roofs and doors from houses. Many civilians died, and years later, piles of human skulls were found in clearings and along roads.

The army also focused on the north-western part of Uganda, in West Nile District. This area bordered Sudan and had supported Idi Amin. Acholi soldiers took revenge on people from Amin's home region. They blamed them for their own losses in previous years. In June 1981, Ugandan Army soldiers attacked a Catholic mission where refugees had sought safety. When the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported a massacre, the government expelled them from Uganda.

Despite these actions, Obote's government cared about its image abroad. It wanted foreign aid to help the country's economy recover. Obote followed advice from the International Monetary Fund, even though it went against his own ideas. He greatly reduced the value of the Ugandan shilling. He also tried to help the export of cash crops. He put off any plans to bring back one-party rule. The continued presence of the DP, even though its members were often harassed, was important for international donors. However, the government's failure to defeat Museveni weakened its economy. Also, a large part of the country was occupied by an army that was hostile to the people living there. This made people even more unhappy with the government.

Abductions by the police, along with detentions and disappearances, happened again, just like under Amin. Instead of torture at the old State Research Bureau, victims faced the same fate at places like "Nile Mansions." Amnesty International, a human rights group, reported that civilians were regularly tortured in military camps across southern Uganda. The total number of deaths from 1981 to 1985 was estimated to be as high as 500,000. Obote, once seen as the person who could fix Uganda, now seemed to be holding back its recovery.

As the military and economic situation worsened, Obote focused only on defeating Museveni. North Korean military advisers were invited to help fight the NRA rebels. But the army was tired of war. After General Oyite Ojok died in a helicopter accident in late 1983, the army started to split along ethnic lines. Acholi soldiers complained they were given too much front-line fighting and too few rewards.

Obote waited as long as possible to name a new leader after Oyite Ojok. He finally chose a Lango person for the job. To deal with objections from Acholi officers, he spied on them. He also brought back his old Special Force Units, which were mostly Langi. These actions were similar to what led to his overthrow by Amin. As if repeating the events of January 1971, Obote again left the capital. He ordered the arrest of a leading Acholi commander, Brigadier Bazilio Olara-Okello. This commander then gathered troops and entered Kampala on July 27, 1985. Obote and many others fled the country to Zambia. This time, it was said that Obote took much of the national treasury with him.

Military Rule Returns (1985–1986)

On July 27, 1985, Tito Okello, along with Bazilio Olara-Okello, led a military takeover that removed President Milton Obote.

General Tito Okello's military government ruled from July 1985 to January 1986. Their main goal was to stay in power. To make his army stronger against the NRA, Okello invited former soldiers from Amin's army to return from refugee camps in Sudan. These soldiers fought well, but they also looted. They did not care if people supported the government or not. Bringing back Amin's soldiers made the Okello government look bad to other countries. This helped people accept Museveni and the NRM/A more.

Okello could not expect to control the whole country with only his tired and unhappy Acholi troops. From August to December 1985, Okello's government tried to make a peace deal with Museveni. This was called the Nairobi Agreement. But the ceasefire broke down almost immediately. Okello and the remaining UNLA army were discouraged. Museveni just had to wait for the government to fall apart.

In January 1986, Museveni moved against Kampala. The local people welcomed him. Okello and his soldiers fled north to their home area in Acholiland. Yoweri Museveni officially became president on January 29, 1986. The new government faced huge challenges in rebuilding the country.

Uganda From 1986 to Today

In March 2000, people voted on whether Uganda should keep its "Movement system" or have many political parties. Most voters (70%) chose to keep the Movement system. However, many criticized this vote because few people turned out, and there were unfair rules against those who opposed the Movement. Museveni was reelected for a second five-year term in March 2001. Parliamentary elections were held in June 2001. More than half of the seats were won by new people. But Movement supporters still controlled the law-making branch. Observers thought the 2001 elections mostly showed what voters wanted. However, there were serious problems before the elections. These included limits on political parties, violence, scaring voters, and cheating.

In 2001, a group called the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) started asking for ideas to change the 1995 Constitution. This group was set up to look at rules about the country's power, political systems, and good government. The CRC's report was supposed to be ready by October 2003, but it was not released publicly. However, the Cabinet gave its own ideas for changes to the CRC in September. These ideas included having a full multiparty system. They also suggested giving the president more power and removing limits on how many terms a president could serve. Removing term limits would let Museveni run again in 2006, and it seemed he wanted to. But this idea caused a lot of debate. It was not clear when or how the constitution would be changed.

The Christian rebel group called the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) continued to attack government forces. They also killed and kidnapped civilians in the north and east. The LRA did not threaten the government's stability. But their violence forced 1.2 million people to leave their homes. This created a serious humanitarian crisis. At least 20,000 children were also abducted over the years. The Uganda Peoples Defense Force (UPDF) started "Operation Iron Fist" against LRA rebels in northern Uganda in 2002. They also operated against LRA safe places in southern Sudan with Sudan's permission. Uganda and Sudan started talking to each other again and exchanged ambassadors. However, Uganda still accused Sudan of supporting the LRA. Sudan denied these claims.

In 1998, Uganda sent a large military force to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). They said it was to stop Ugandan rebel groups there from attacking. But there were many claims that Ugandan military and government officials were illegally taking natural resources from the DRC. After a lot of international pressure, Uganda pulled its troops out of the DRC in June 2003.

On November 14, 2004, it was reported that the President had declared a week-long truce with the rebels. It was to begin the next day.

In August 2005, Parliament voted to change the constitution. This removed the limit on presidential terms, allowing Museveni to run for a third term. In a vote in July 2005, 92.5% of people supported bringing back multiparty politics. This ended the "movement system" where there were no political parties.

In October 2005, Kizza Besigye, Museveni's main political rival, returned from being away. In the same month, another of Museveni's rivals, Milton Obote, died in South Africa. He was given a state funeral in Kampala.

The February 2006 elections were the first multiparty elections in 25 years. Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) was the main challenger to Museveni's National Resistance Movement (NRM). The NRM won most seats in the National Assembly, and Museveni won the presidency.

On August 20, 2007, Uganda announced it was seeking legal advice to set up a war crimes court.

On July 11, 2010, jihadist al-Shabaab bombers killed 74 people in Kampala.

On October 12, 2011, US President Barack Obama allowed about 100 US soldiers to go to Uganda. Their goal was to help local forces "remove from the battlefield" – meaning capture or kill – Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony and other LRA leaders.

In February 2016, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said that forming an East African Federation was their main goal. This federation would unite Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan. In September 2018, a committee was formed to start writing a regional constitution. A draft constitution for a confederation is planned by 2021, with it starting by 2023.

President Yoweri Museveni has led the country since 1986. He was re-elected again in January 2021 presidential elections. Official results showed Museveni won with 58% of the vote. Popstar-turned-politician Bobi Wine had 35%. The opposition challenged the results, claiming there was widespread cheating and problems.