UGANDA

that the British, during different dictatorships and conflicts in Uganda, remained
bystanders without ever taking responsibility for what was essentially the outcome of
their subjugation and maladministration of Uganda. Demands for truth, apology and
compensation by the British were made across the country and across generations.
It was argued that the legacies of colonialism should be addressed for the country to
achieve national reconciliation and unity.
POST-INDEPENDENCE NORTH-SOUTH DIVISION
THEMATIC ISSUES
The colonial division of Uganda into ‘north’ and ‘south’ was widely identified as one of
the most destructive and pervasive of the colonial legacies, having perpetrated mistrust
and conflict, and undermined national unity. This was particularly strongly expressed in
northern Uganda, where participants claimed that the north-south divide explains the
underdevelopment and marginalisation of the north relative to the south. 12
Discriminatory recruitment and education opportunities offered to the northern and
southern regions by the colonial administrators are seen as one of the primary examples
of divide and rule policy and strategy: people from the North were predominantly
trained and recruited militarily, while people from the South were much more likely to
benefit from formal education to prepare them for civil service. 13
In addition to discriminatory military recruitment and education
policies, the colonialists also introduced a discriminatory agricultural
policy. Under British rule, the southern region came to benefit from
perennial cash crops, such as coffee, while the north was assigned
seasonal cash crops like cotton.
This regional divide widened after Independence, beginning with Obote’s first
administration, which saw the abolition of the Buganda Kingdom (as well as other
Kingdoms) and the exile of the Kabaka to the United Kingdom. 14 A participant in Kitgum
argued that the death of the Kabaka in exile still causes the Baganda to carry bitterness in
their hearts towards people from the North. People from the North became associated
with violence when different regimes – led by rulers from the north and employing
mainly northern soldiers – committed atrocities. This included the regimes of Milton
Obote (both his first and second regime), Idi Amin and Tito Okello. People from the
North were, according to the current NRM government’s narrative, also identified as the
main perpetrators during the Bush War that saw many civilian casualties in the Luwero
Triangle.
Anti-northern sentiment, according to participants from the north, in turn led to revenge
killings in West Nile after Idi Amin’s fall. Such revenge killing occurred in Lango and
Acholiland after the overthrow of Obote, and the subsequent ousting of Tito Okello.
They also argued that this anti-northern sentiment was a pretext for marginalisation and
oppression of northern Uganda under President Museveni.
12 For more information, see conflict number 5 in this Compendium
13 This is also described in Karugire, S.R. (2003) The roots of instability in Uganda. Kampala, Fountain
Publishers
14 Comment by one of the Compendium reviewers
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