UGANDA

INTRODUCTION
on perspectives and opinions of the participants with whom researchers interacted. At
times, the conflicts that were discussed occurred many decades ago and memories
of such conflicts might have faded. It was generally not possible to fact-check all the
elements of the conflict perspectives that came up during the focus group discussions
and key informant interviews. It is possible that if these conflicts were to be further
investigated, information contradicting some of the findings in this Compendium
might surface. Notwithstanding these limitations, the Compendium reveals a wealth of
information about conflicts that have occurred throughout Uganda, many of which were
previously only known to locals and small circles of conflict stakeholders. It provides a
clearer and more inclusive picture than hitherto existed of the countrywide existence of
conflicts and their impacts.
We anticipate that this foundation will over the next few years be developed, as more
districts are visited, more documentation is gathered, and more people step forward to
share what they know. In this way, we consider this Compendium of Conflicts a living
document that has a long life and healthy growth ahead of it. Refugee Law Project will
develop this living document over the next few years. Ideally, Uganda should go through
a national, comprehensive and open truth-telling process to unearth all the conflicts
Uganda has lived through, as well as their causes, impacts and stakeholders.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE COMPENDIUM OF CONFLICTS
Section A provides an introduction to the Compendium, as well as describing the
methodology and background of the NRTJ Audit. Section B of the Compendium starts
by highlighting cross-cutting themes that emerged during the NRTJ Audit, enhancing the
understanding of the conflicts that are described by participants on national and regional
levels. After, participants describe their perspectives on national level conflicts and the
regional manifestations of national level conflicts. As such, the narration is divided
into national conflicts and northern, eastern, western and central level conflicts. While
the focus of the Compendium is on post-Independence conflicts, pre-Independence
conflicts are also included and discussed where participants regarded them as important
to our understanding of post-Independence conflicts. Section C provides community
perspectives on a range of transitional justice mechanisms.
TERMS AND LANGUAGE
Some terms in the Compendium, particularly those related to names of ethnic groups
(or ‘tribes’), their members, language and territories/polities, can be confusing. Below
is a brief overview of the most often mentioned names which will provide the reader
with an understanding of usage of the different prefixes (such as Mu-, Ba- and Lu-) that
denote territory/polity, ethnic group member(s) and language respectively, within the
Bantu language group. Examples are also given of tribes to which such prefixes do not
apply. In some cases, spelling of particular names may vary amongst authors, as in the
case of the Batooro/Batooro. One manner of spelling has been selected for the sake of
consistency.
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