UGANDA

COMPENDIUM OF CONFLICTS IN UGANDA
111. Conflict over the “Lost Counties” (1962)
In 1896, British colonial administrators, as a reward to Buganda for their collaboration with
the British in the fight against Bunyoro, appropriated Buyaga and Bugangaizi Counties,
which came to be referred to as the “lost counties”, from Bunyoro to Buganda Kingdom.
This land transfer was a reward, arising from the spoils of war between the British and
Buganda versus the Bunyoro. While King Kabalega of Bunyoro attempted to resist British
colonisation of Bunyoro Kingdom, his efforts were in vain. The King eventually fled and
was displaced in Acholiland and later in Lango. There, he was arrested by the British and
exiled to the Seychelles Islands together with the Buganda King Mwanga, who, at that
moment, had also turned against the British.
Participants at the London Constitutional Conference referred the matter of the “lost
counties” to be decided in a referendum that was conducted in 1964. The result of the
vote was that the “lost counties” were returned to Bunyoro Kingdom. The “lost counties”
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