UGANDA

CENTRAL CONFLICTS
1966 crisis. The Parliament’s 1964 election of the Kabaka as the nation’s President (a
largely ceremonial position) brewed conflicts between the Buganda and the central
Government. This later climaxed especially after the lost counties’ referendum that saw
Bunyoro take back its counties. The first disagreement between the President and the
Prime Minister arose in 1963, as a result of the Buganda government ultimatum that
unless the central government remove all its police stations from Buganda and allow
the Lukiiko to determine funds to be transferred by the central government to Buganda,
the kingdom government would suspend all cooperation with the central Government.
Another issue contributing to the 1966 crisis was the KY’s decision to move a motion of
no confidence against Obote following Obote and Amin’s implication in a plot to smuggle
gold from then Zaire into Uganda. The motion was moved by Daudi Oceng, a KY MP,
on February 4, 1966. Parliament recommended the appointment of a commission of
inquiry into the activities of Prime Minister Obote and the Army commander Idi Amin.
Attempts were made to arrest Obote, based on these allegations. On February 22, 1966,
Obote suspended the constitution and arrested five of his ministers. 470 Obote, who had
previously held the title of Prime Minister, declared himself President. The Kabaka was
in turn exiled. A participant said;
“During the Kabaka’s crisis, it was my first time to see
planes in the air and to hear the exchange of bullets. We
were told that the Luwero police station had been stormed.
Everything changed and we couldn’t eat or sleep, and we
spent too much time in the bush. When the bullet stopped
making noise, we received news that the palace had been
stormed.” 471
The attack on the Kabaka’s palace and the eventual abdication of the Kabaka from the
throne to seek exile in London was followed by Obote’s abolition of the 1962 Constitution
and the coerced promulgation of the 1967 Republican Constitution, which afforded
Obote the official title of President of Uganda.
114. Federal Democratic Movement of Uganda (FEDEMU) (1981-1989)
The Federal Democratic Movement of Uganda (FEDEMU), an insurgent group led by
Captain Nkwanga, was mainly comprised of Buganda loyalists striving for a federal
system of governance for Buganda. FEDEMU broke away from the Uganda Freedom
Movement (UFM) in 1981 as a result of internal conflicts that emerged after the
successful attack on Lubiri army barracks in February 1981. 472 This rebel group operated
during the time when several other armed groups, including the NRA and UFM, were
fighting the second Obote Government, and later, in 1985, the Government of Tito
Okello Lutwa. 473 Their strongest support base was in the Buganda region, since they
470 Ibid
471 Research conducted in Mukono District
472 Research conducted in Nakasongola and Mukono Districts
473 Research conducted in Nakasongola , Hoima and Mukono Districts; Ruddy, D. and Vlassenroot, K. (1999)
Kony’s message: a new koine? The Lord’s Resistance Army in northern Uganda. African Affairs, 98(390)
pp. 14
219