Wayzata World Factbook 1994/World Factbook - 1994 Edition - Wayzata Technology (1994).iso/pc/text/txtfiles/uganda.bkg

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#CARD:Uganda:Background Notes
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE BACKGROUND NOTES:  UGANDA

March 1991
Official Name:  Republic of Uganda

PROFILE
Geography
Area: 235,885 sq. km. (94,354 sq. mi.); about the size of Oregon.
Cities: Capital-Kampala (pop. 331,900).  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 (1989): 17
million. Annual growth rate (1989):  3.4%. Ethnic groups: African (99%),
European, Asian, Arab (1%).  Religions: Christian (majority), Muslim,
traditional. Languages: English (official); Luganda and Swahili widely
used; other Bantu and Nilotic languages.  Education:  Attendance (1989,
primary school enrollment)-60%.  Literacy (1989)-52%. Health: Infant
mortality rate-99/1,000. Life expectancy-50 yrs.

Government
Type: Transitional military government. Constitution: 1967 (suspended
1985). Independence: October 9, 1962.
Branches: Executive-president, prime minister, cabinet.
Legislative-National Resistance Council (parliament).
Judiciary-magistrates courts, appeals court, High Court.
Administrative subdivisions: 10 provinces, 34 districts.  Political
parties: Uganda People's Congress (UPC), Democratic Party (DP),
(political activity is suspended). 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 (1989): $3.6 billion.  Inflation rate (1989): Approx. 60%.  Natural
resources: Copper, cobalt, limestone.  Agriculture: Products-coffee,
cotton, tea, bananas, tobacco, sugarcane, corn, cassava.
Industry: Types-processing of agricultural products (cotton ginning,
coffee curing), cement production, light consumer goods, textiles.
Trade (1989): Exports-$282 million: coffee, cotton, tea.  Major
market-EC. Imports (1989)-$563 million: petroleum products, machinery,
cotton textiles, metals, transportation equipment. Major suppliers-OPEC
countries, EC.
Official exchange rate (1990):  540 Ugandan shillings=US $1.
Fiscal year:  July 1-June 30.

Membership in International Organizations
 UN and some of its specialized and related agencies, Organization of
African Unity (OAU), Group of 77, Commonwealth, Non-aligned Movement,
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), INTELSAT.

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  more than 1 million
members, constitute the largest single ethnic group.
 The Nilo-Hamitic Iteso is the second largest group, followed by the
Banyankole and Basoga, both of Bantu extraction. Uganda's population is
predominantly rural, and its density is highest in the southern regions.

 Until 1972, Asians constituted the largest non-indigenous 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 non-indigenous 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.
 The British protectorate period began to change formally in 1955, when
constitutional changes leading to Uganda's independence were adopted.
The first general elections in Uganda were held in 1961, and the British
government granted internal self-government to Uganda on March 1, 1962,
with Benedicto Kiwanuka as the first prime 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. 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 (UNLF)
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 NRA-led government has largely put an end to
the human rights abuses of earlier governments, established a human
rights commission to investigate previous abuses, 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.  Insurgent elements and armed
bandits  in the north and east harass government forces and create a
sense of insecurity, but they do not threaten the stability of the
regime.

GOVERNMENT
 The Ugandan government is a transitional one which initially pledged to
rule for 4 years.  Citing continued security difficulties that
frustrated achievement of political peace and sustained  economic
recovery, the mandate was unilaterally extended for 5 additional years
in October 1989.  The executive consists of officials representing
widely diverse political outlooks.  Yoweri Museveni is president and
minister of defense, and Samson Kisekka is prime minister.  In 1990,
President Museveni was elected chairman of the Organization of African
Unity (OAU).  Symbolically, it signaled  Uganda's reentry into the world
community.
 Legislative responsibility is vested in the 270-person National
Resistance Council (parliament), most of whose members were elected in
February 1989.  The Ugandan judiciary operates as an independent branch
of government and consists of magistrates courts, the High Court, and
the High Court for Appeals. Political parties may not conduct public
political activities.

Principal Government Officials
President, Minister of Defense, and Chairman of the National Resistance
Council--Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
Vice President--Dr. Samson B.M. Kisekka
Prime Minister--George Adyebo
Foreign Minister--Paul Ssemogerere
Ambassador to the United States--Stephen Katenta-Apuli

 Uganda maintains an embassy in the United States at 5909 16th Street
NW, Washington, DC 20011 (tel. [phone]).

ECONOMY
 Uganda's economy has great potential.  Endowed with significant natural
resources, including amply 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 has 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 first steps toward economic rehabilitation.
 Much of the country's infrastructure-notably its transportation and
communications systems which were destroyed by war and neglect -must be
rebuilt.  Progress to date has been limited but encouraging.
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  dropped from 300% in 1987 to less than
30% in 1990;  some prices stabilized, production increased, and consumer
goods were more widely available.  The Ugandan government also has
worked with Western countries to reschedule or cancel the country's
debts.
 Agricultural products supply nearly all of Uganda's foreign exchange
earnings, with coffee alone accounting for over 90% of the country's
exports.  However, with world coffee prices dropping, other exports are
becoming more important.  Exports of hides, skins, vegetables, fruits,
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,
beer, and soft drinks.
 Uganda has about 32,000 kilometers (20,000 mi.) of roads; some 6,400
kilometers (4,000 mi.) are paved.  Most radiate from Kampala.  The
country has about 1,300 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
 Uganda is a UN member and a founding member of the Organization of
African Unity.  It also belongs to the Non-aligned Movement, the Group
of 77, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.  In its
multilateral diplomacy, Uganda presses for the end of all discrimination
and the establishment of a multiracial democracy in South Africa.
 The Museveni government seeks good relations with all nations and
welcomes contacts without reference to ideological orientation.
Relations with Kenya, however, have been  strained periodically because
of trade problems and charges that exiled political dissidents are not
curtailed in Kenya.  Neighbors also are concerned about Uganda's
relationship with Libya, which has supplied military equipment and
bartered fuel to Uganda.  In addition to its ties to Western nations,
Uganda has sought to maintain friendly ties with North Korea, the Soviet
Union, and other former Eastern bloc countries, as well as with Cuba.

DEFENSE
 The National Resistance Army (NRA) constitutes the armed forces of
Uganda.    Since 1986, its cohesiveness has been diluted by

incorporating new recruits with no field experience, and members of
other political groups.  Uganda received military supplies and training
from North Korea, Libya, and the Soviet Union.  Training is also
provided by Tanzania, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

US-UGANDAN RELATIONS
 US-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 US Peace Corps
volunteers and the termination of bilateral US economic assistance.  In
November 1973, after repeated public threats against US Embassy
officials and after the expulsion of Marine security guards responsible
for protecting US government property and personnel, the embassy was
closed.  In 1978, Congress legislated an embargo of all US 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 US
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.
 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.
In 1989, the United States provided $17 million in development
assistance, along with grant PL-480 commodity assistance (vegetable oil
and tallow) with a market value of about $7 million.  The US Agency for
International Development (USAID) funding for 1991 is approximately $56
million, including Food for Peace commodities.
  The US Information Agency (USIA) has carried out a cultural exchange
program aiding sports programs and the National Theater, bringing
Fulbright professors to teach at Makerere University, and sponsoring US
study and tour programs for many government officials.
 Significant contributions to Ugandan health care, nutrition, education,
and park systems from US missionaries, non-governmental organizations,
private universities, AIDS researchers, and wildlife organizations have
brought long-term benefits to US-Ugandan relations.

Principal US Officials
Ambassador--John A. Burroughs, Jr.
Deputy Chief of Mission--Robert Gribbin
Public Affairs Officer--Dudley Sims
Director, AID--Keith Sherper

 The US Embassy in Uganda is in the British High Commission Building on
Parliament Avenue, Kampala (tel. [phone]).

Travel Notes
 Climate and clothing: Although Uganda straddles the Equator, its
altitude makes the climate temperate year round. Light-weight clothing
supplemented by sweaters for the evening is most practical. Rainwear is
needed during the rainy season.
 Customs: Visas are required for entry, as are inoculations for cholera
and yellow fever. Travelers are required to exchange $150 dollars in
Ugandan shillings upon arrival, and receipts should be retained to be
shown upon departure.  A $10 airport departure tax also is levied.
 Health: Malaria is present, and malaria suppressants are recommended.
Boil and filter water and wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly.
 Telecommunications: Telephone and telex services are generally
available to the US and Europe. Kampala is 8 time zones ahead of eastern
standard time.
 Transportation: Kampala is served by several international airlines
from Europe and by more extensive connections through Nairobi.
In-country, private cars serving as taxis are often crowded and
unreliable. Traffic moves on the left.

 Published by the United States Department of State--Bureau of Public
Affairs--Office of Public Communication--Washington, DC--March 1991.
Editor:  Peter Knecht.
 Department of State Publication 7958--Background Notes Series--This
material is in the public domain and may be reprinted without
permission; citation of this source is appreciated.
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, US Government Printing
Office, Washington, DC 20402 (###)


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