Wayzata World Factbook 1995/World Factbook - 1995 Edition - Wayzata Technology (1995).iso/mac/text/Build/orig BACKGR/BNOT0107.TXT

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National Trade Data Bank
ITEM ID     : ST BNOTES UGANDA
DATE        : Oct 28, 1994

AGENCY      : U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
PROGRAM     : BACKGROUND NOTES
TITLE       : Background Notes - UGANDA

Source key      : ST
Program key     : ST BNOTES
Update sched.   : Occasionally
Data type       : TEXT
End year        : 1992
Date of record  : 19941018
Keywords 3      :
Keywords 3      : | UGANDA

US DEPARTMENT OF STATE, BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
BACKGROUND NOTES:  UGANDA

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