The politics of Uganda occurs in an authoritarian context. Since assuming office in 1986 at the end of the Ugandan civil war, Yoweri Museveni has ruled Uganda as an autocrat. Political parties were banned from 1986 to 2006 in the wake of the 2005 Ugandan multi-party referendum which was won by pro-democracy forces. Since 2006, Museveni has used legal means, patronage, and violence to maintain power.
The history of Uganda comprises the history of the people who inhabited the territory of present-day Uganda before the establishment of the Republic of Uganda, and the history of that country once it was established. Evidence from the Paleolithic era shows humans have inhabited Uganda for at least 50,000 years. The forests of Uganda were gradually cleared for agriculture by people who probably spoke Central Sudanic languages. The Empire of Kitara grew out of the Urewe culture in the 10th century. Following the migration and invasion of Luo peoples c. 15th century, Kitara would collapse, and from the ashes rose various Biito kingdoms such as Bunyoro alongside Buganda.
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa is a Ugandan politician and military officer who is the ninth and current president of Uganda since 1986. As of 2024, he is the third-longest consecutively serving current non-royal national leader in the world. His government is considered autocratic.
The History of Uganda from 1979 to 1986 comprises the history of Uganda since the end of the dictatorship of Idi Amin. This period has seen the second rule of Milton Obote and the presidency of Yoweri Museveni since 1986, in which Ugandan politics have been dominated by the National Resistance Movement.
The National Resistance Movement has been the ruling party in Uganda since 1986.
The Uganda Electoral Commission (EC) provides national elections for a president and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term. The Parliament is composed of members directly elected to represent constituencies, and one woman representative for every district; as well representatives of special interest groups, including the army, youth, workers and persons with disabilities.
The Forum for Democratic Change, founded on 16 December 2004, is the main opposition party in Uganda. The FDC was founded as an umbrella body called Reform Agenda, mostly for disenchanted former members and followers of President Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Movement (NRM). Party president Kizza Besigye, formerly a close ally of Museveni, was a candidate in 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016 presidential elections. In November 2012, Mugisha Muntu was elected as President of the FDC until November 2017 when he was defeated by Patrick Oboi Amuriat the current party President until 2022.
Warren Kizza Besigye Kifefe, known as Colonel Dr. Kizza Besigye, is a Ugandan physician, politician, and former military officer of the Uganda People's Defence Force. He served as the president of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) political party and was an unsuccessful candidate in Uganda's 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016 presidential elections, losing all of them to the incumbent, Yoweri Museveni, who has been president of Uganda since 26 January 1986. The results of the 2006 elections were contested in court, and the court found massive rigging and disenfranchisement. Besigye allowed an early internal FDC election for a successor president, which took place on 24 November 2012.
General elections were held in Uganda on 23 February 2006. They were the first multi-party elections since President Yoweri Museveni took over power in 1986, and followed a referendum the previous year on scrapping the ban on party politics.
Abed Bwanika is a Ugandan veterinarian, politician, and pastor. He is the President of the People's Development Party, an opposition political party in Uganda and his currently a Member of Parliament for Kimanya-Kabonera constituency under the NUP,the youngest political party led Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu.
John Patrick Amama Mbabazi, SC is a Ugandan politician who served as the ninth Prime Minister of Uganda from 24 May 2011 to 19 September 2014. He played an instrumental role in Uganda's protracted liberation struggle from several tyrannical governments (1972-1986) and is a founding member of the National Resistance Movement, the ruling political party in Uganda.
Gregory Mugisha Muntuyera, commonly referred to as Mugisha Muntu, is a Ugandan politician and retired military officer. He is the current president of the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT), a political party he founded in March 2019. He previously served as the President of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), an opposition political party, from 2012 to 2017. In September 2018, General Muntu parted ways with the FDC citing ideological differences with the new FDC leadership of Hon. Patrick Oboi Amuriat. On 27 September 2018 he announced in a televised press conference that he and some other leaders had begun what he called the New Formation which later became the ANT.
Norbert Mao is a Ugandan political activist and lawyer. He has been president of the Democratic Party since 2010, three time presidential candidate and served as the Local Council 5 chairman for Gulu District. He is the current minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs in the Ugandan government, an office he assumed on 21 July 2022. He was appointed to this position by Yoweri Museveni, the president of the Republic of Uganda. The appointment drew immense criticism from the Democratic Party, an opposition party he is currently serving as president. It was seen as a move by President Museveni to tame the Party and clip its wings to criticize his government.
Presidential elections were held in Uganda on 12 March 2001. The incumbent Yoweri Museveni won 69% of the vote and was elected to a second term. All candidates were independents, as political parties were banned at the time. Voter turnout was 70.3%.
General elections were held in Uganda on 18 February 2011. Incumbent President Yoweri Museveni of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) was re-elected for a third time, having been in power since 1986. The NRM also won 263 of the 375 seats in Parliament.
The Walk to Work protests occurred in Uganda in April 2011, as a reaction to the high cost of living. The protests took place following presidential elections in February 2011, and involved several defeated opposition candidates. The protests were suppressed by the government of Yoweri Museveni, resulting in five deaths.
The People Power, Our Power movement is a resistance pressure group in Uganda. It is led by Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, also known as Bobi Wine, who is the MP for Kyadondo East constituency. The movement seeks to unite Ugandans on issues such as ending human rights abuse, corruption and redefining the rule of law, with a focus on young Ugandans. The movement was primarily sparked by civil unrest with Yoweri Museveni's extended presidency, after he announced plans to extend his third-longest tenure in Africa by seeking re-election in 2021.
The Alliance for National Transformation (ANT), founded on 19 March 2019, is a political party in Uganda.
General elections were held in Uganda on 14 January 2021 to elect the President and the Parliament. The Electoral Commission announced Incumbent President Yoweri Museveni, the incumbent ruling since 1986, as the winner with 58.64% of the votes although the U.S. State Department qualified the electoral process as "fundamentally flawed" and Africa Elections Watch said they observed irregularities. The official voter turnout was 57% but is questioned since 409 polling stations have been announced to have 100% voter turnout.
Patrick Oboi Amuriat is a Ugandan engineer, politician and a founding member of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party and ran on its platform for the president of Uganda in the January 2021 presidential election. He served in the Ugandan parliament from 2001 to 2016 and chaired several committees and was a member of Parliamentary Advocacy Forum, PAFO.
8.32 pp)
Ugandaportal 
