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Uganda, 1979–85: Leadership in Transition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2008

Extract

After a period of preoccupation with the study of the military in post-colonial states, some scholars have begun to turn their attention to the analysis of politics in post-military states in the Third World.1 This shift, however, has had a considerable impact on perceptions of the traditional rigid dichotomy between military and civilian régimes. In particular, there is increasing scepticism about the ability of the latter to restore political order, to establish the supremacy of civil institutions over the armed forces, and to acquire popular legitimacy. There seems little doubt that the pre-eminence of the soldiers, and their ability to dictate the degree of participation in politics, has continued to persist in a number of African countries, thereby producing systems of government that are a mixture rather than a clear manifestation of either a military or a civilian régime.

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

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References

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Page 608 note 1 For a detailed account on this meeting, see Atuba, Omara, The Uganda National Liberation Front: gospel of liberation (Moshi, 1979).Google Scholar

Page 609 note 1 Problems arising from Amin's legacy are discussed in some detail in Commonwealth Secretariat, The Rehabilitation of the Economy of Uganda: a report by a Commonwealth team of experts (London, 06 1979), generally referred to as ‘the Seers report’.Google Scholar

Page 609 note 2 For the members of Cabinet, Lule's, see Africa Research Bulletin: political, social, and cultural series (Exeter), 16 05 1979, p. 5222.Google Scholar

Page 609 note 3 Commonwealth Secretariat, op. cit. para. 62.

Page 610 note 1 Africa Research Bulletin, 15 July 1979, pp. 5297–5301.

Page 610 note 2 Ibid. 15 June 1979, pp. 5261–2.

Page 610 note 3 Weekly Review (Nairobi), 29 06 1979, pp. 513.Google Scholar These fears were strengthened by Lule's re-establishment of the four pre-Amin Provinces, of which Buganda was the most densely populated. For a detailed critical assessment of Lule's leadership, see Sathyamurthy, T. V., The Political Development of Uganda, 1900–1986 (Aldershot, 1986), pp. 661–2.Google Scholar

Page 611 note 1 Africa Confidential (London), 20 06 1979, pp. 24.Google Scholar

Page 611 note 2 Heeger, loc. cit. pp. 243–6.

Page 611 note 3 For the members of Binaisa's Cabinet, see Africa Research Bulletin, 16 July 1979, p. 5299.

Page 611 note 4 See Uganda Times (Kampala), 19 10 1979.Google Scholar

Page 612 note 1 Africa Research Bulletin, 16 November 1979, p. 5440.

Page 612 note 2 Weekly Review, 14 September 1979.

Page 612 note 3 Ibid. 17 August 1979.

Page 612 note 4 Africa Research Bulletin, 16 October 1979, pp. 5413–14.

Page 612 note 5 See Africa Confidential, 22 August 1979, p. 4.

6 Ibid. 28 November 1979, pp. 5–6.

Page 613 note 1 Africa Research Bulletin, 17 March 1980, p. 5585.

Page 613 note 2 Ibid. 17 June 1980, pp. 5682–6.

Page 614 note 1 For a detailed official account of the electoral results, see Report of the Electoral Commission 1980 Presented to His Excellency Dr A. Milton Obote MP, President of the Republic of Uganda (Entebbe, 25 06 1981), pp. 92189.Google Scholar

Page 614 note 2 For some of these charges, see Africa Confidential, 11 February 1981, pp. 1–3.

Page 615 note 1 Obote, A. Milton, Communication from the Chair: the challenge of recovery (Entebbe, 17 03 1981).Google Scholar

Page 615 note 2 Obote, A. Milton, Budget Speech: first step to recovery (Entebbe, 1981).Google Scholar

Page 615 note 3 These documents included: Budget Speech: programme for recovery (Entebbe, 06 1982);Google ScholarCommunication from the Chair: progress to recovery (Entebbe, 03 1982);Google ScholarCommunication from the Chair: platform for recovery (Entebbe, 03 1983);Google Scholar and Revised Recovery Programme (Entebbe, 09 1983).Google Scholar

Page 616 note 1 Carroll, Jane, ‘Uganda: recent economy’, in Africa South of the Sahara, 1986 (London, 1986), p. 966.Google Scholar For a detailed account of the improvements that took place during Obote's second term of office, see Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, Background to the Budget, 1984–1985 (Entebbe, 06 1984).Google Scholar

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Page 616 note 3 Africa Research Bulletin, 18 June 1981, p. 6051, and 18 November 1981, pp. 6256–7.

Page 616 note 4 See Memorandum to the Government of Uganda on an Amnesty International Mission to Uganda in January 1982 and Further Exchanges between the Government and Amnesty International (London, 04 1983).Google Scholar

Page 617 note 1 Africa Research Bulletin, 15 September 1985, p. 7761.

Page 617 note 2 Africa Confidential, 8 April 1981.

Page 617 note 3 Ibid. 15 September and 15 October 1981, and 3 February 1982.

Page 617 note 4 Ibid. 15 August 1984.

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Page 618 note 1 Africa Confidential, 31 August 1985, p. 4.

Page 618 note 2 Africa Research Bulletin, 15 August 1985, pp. 7723–4.

Page 619 note 1 Ibid. 15 September 1985, pp. 7760–1.

Page 619 note 2 The peace agreement was published in the Weekly Review, 20 December 1985, pp. 10–13.

Page 619 note 3 For details of the disagreements between the U.N.L.A. and the N.R.A. during the peace negotiations in Nairobi, see Africa Research Bulletin, 15 September, 15 October, 15 November, and 15 December 1985; Africa Confidential, 4 September, 27 November, and 11 December 1985; Weekly Review, 18 and 25 October, 8 and 15 November, and 6 and 13 December 1985; and Africa, September, October, and December 1985.

Page 620 note 1 Weekly Review, 17 January 1986.

Page 620 note 2 Ibid. 10 January 1986. And in the attempt to conceal these atrocities the Army Commander, Brigadier Basilio Okello, banned reporters from publishing any more news about the security forces.

Page 622 note 1 These are my impressions as a result of re-visiting Uganda during June–August 1988. In addition, it must be reported that there are growing criticisms by members of the Uganda People's Congress and the Democratic Party, often expressed openly in the local press, about the Government's slowness in returning the country to the main stream of representative democracy.