Uganda
Uganda exhibits mid-range performance across all four categories of the Global State of Democracy conceptual framework, but its performance in Participation is notably higher. Over the past five years, it has experienced notable drops in Access to Justice and Freedom of Expression. Uganda is a low-income country, largely reliant on agriculture. Uganda has maintained relatively brisk economic growth despite the endurance of low levels of human development.
In precolonial times, present-day Uganda was dominated by a number of powerful kingdoms, notably the still influential Kingdom of Buganda. In the late 19th century, the country was colonized by the British, who ruled it until its independence in 1962. Independence was followed by the authoritarian rule of Milton Obote and the brutal dictatorship of Idi Amin. In 1986, following the Ugandan Bush War, Yoweri Museveni came to power as president, where he remains to the present day. While political parties were legalized in 2005 - after a period of “no party” politics - and multiparty elections are now held, these reforms have not resulted in a more open democratic space. In recent years, Museveni has been able to strengthen his grip on power through a system of patronage that primarily targets and coopts rural areas, adding fuel to a large urban-rural divide that had already been produced by the previous “no-party” system. Museveni has also shored up his position through his control over the security agencies, which have long played a prominent political role and have regularly been deployed against the political opposition, particularly during elections.
Ethnic identity has long been politically salient in Uganda, which has one of the most ethnically diverse countries in Africa. During and since colonial rule, ethnicity has been politically instrumentalized, with ethnic and regional fissures influencing voting patterns. While some progress has been made on women’s rights issues, women continue to suffer gender-based violence and economic challenges. Uganda’s LGBTQIA+ community faces severe state and societal discrimination, is subject to a highly punitive legal regime, and the rights of this community are an increasingly volatile issue in the country.
Another important issue shaping politics in Uganda is its economic performance, with high unemployment and uneven growth driving its urban youth (an increasingly large demographic) into conflictual opposition with the government. This demographic represents an important support base for the opposition National Unity Platform party, which has demanded democratic reforms. These calls have been strengthened by anger over pervasive corruption and state-repression of opposition parties and civil society organizations, including enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, torture and restrictions on freedom of expression.
Over the next few years, it will be important to watch growing state securitization and a shrinking civic space. Changes here could impact performance in Rights and Participation. Ultimately, Uganda’s future will be determined by its very large population of young people, whose growing urban contingent is likely to continue to resist the state’s growing authoritarianism.
Monthly Event Reports
October 2023 | Security forces crack down on opposition as leader returns to Uganda
Uganda’s police and military have cracked down on members of the opposition National Unity Platform party (NUP) as its leader, Robert Kyagulanyi, known as Bobi Wine, returned to Uganda from a trip abroad on 6 October. According to Wine, he was detained by security personnel at Entebbe airport, taken home and then placed under house arrest, an allegation denied by the police, which said that he was merely ‘escorted’ home. A police press release stated that it had also arrested 40 individuals (including an NUP parliamentarian) as part of a security operation to shut down an NUP march that it had declared illegal. Wine, however, said that over 300 people were arrested, and media organisations reported that journalists had been detained and assaulted by security personnel, who had also prevented them from accessing the airport. On 9 October, Wine claimed that Ugandan police and military officers had raided the NUP’s headquarters, alleging that the raid was aimed at stopping a party prayer event.
August 2023 | Uganda charges two men with new ‘aggravated homosexuality’ offence
In August, the office of the Director of Public Prosecution revealed that it had charged two men with the capital offence of ‘aggravated homosexuality’, the first such charges since the enactment in May 2023 of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, the legislation that introduced the offence. Aggravated homosexuality is committed where same-sex relations occur in a select list of ‘aggravating’ circumstances, including where they involve a minor (as is alleged in one of the cases) or a disabled person (as is alleged in the other). Uganda has not executed anyone since 2005, with those charged with capital offences usually receiving life sentences. However, the enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality Act has raised fears amongst the LGBTQIA+ community and its advocates of a resumption of state executions. Several people were also arrested in August for lesser offences under the Act and evictions and harassment and violence against LGBTQIA+ persons is reported to have risen in recent months.
June 2023 | At least 42 people killed in school terrorist attack
On 16 June, a terrorist attack carried out against a school in Mpondwe, a town in western Uganda, left at least 42 people dead, 37 of which were students. A further six students were abducted. Uganda’s President blamed the attack on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist rebel group established in Uganda in the 1990s but now based in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). ADF attacks in Uganda are rare. In 2021, the group carried out a series of bombings in the country’s capital Kampala, which killed three people. According to local experts, communities living in western Uganda are particularly vulnerable to assaults and recruitment by militant groups due to the unregulated movement of people and goods across the border with the DRC and high unemployment rates. Previous ADF attacks have led to increased discrimination against Uganda’s Muslim communities and Muslims in Mpondwe were reported to be fearful of retaliation. Sources: Daily Monitor, Al Jazeera, Ugandan Police Force, President Yoweri Museveni, Institute for Security Studies
May 2023 | Museveni signs law further restricting LGBTQIA+ rights
On 26 May, President Yoweri Museveni signed into law the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, a piece of legislation that further restricts the already severely constrained rights of LGBTQIA+ people in Uganda. The law, which was initially passed by Parliament on 21 March 2023 before being returned to legislators by Museveni for reconsideration, was left largely unamended when passed a second time on 2 May 2023. It still criminalises the ‘promotion of homosexuality’, meaning that anyone who advocates for LGBTQIA+ rights or finances such advocacy could face a prison sentence of up to 20 years. It also continues to prescribe the death penalty for the crime of ‘aggravated homosexuality’ (where same-sex relations are carried out in one of a select list of ‘aggravating’ circumstances, e.g. where the offender is a ‘serial offender’ or the victim is under 18). However, on the recommendation of Museveni, the law no longer criminalises identifying as an LGBTQIA+ person.
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