UGANDA

COMPENDIUM OF CONFLICTS IN UGANDA
PHASE I: Colonial Construction of Uganda, 1884 – 1962
The seeds of many of the conflicts that Uganda faces today were sown or watered
in Uganda’s pre-Independence years. In their quest to divide and rule the people
of what would later become known as Uganda, the colonialists exploited,
deepened and created cleavages in society that divided people in all spheres of
public and private life, such as ethnicity, political allegiance, religion and politics.
Native traditions, beliefs and administration were subdued by the administrative
and religious dominance of Europeans. When Uganda gained Independence in
1962, its citizens were in a state of division and discord: a recipe for conflict.
1. The Berlin Conference (1884-1885)
Prior to the European scramble for Africa, what is now Uganda was made up of a number
of ‘hereditary rulerships’. In the 1860s and 1870s, the first British
explorers came to Uganda: J.H. Speke, A.J. Grant, Sir
Samual Baker and H.M. Stanley. In the 1870s
the first Christian missionaries followed,
arriving in the Buganda Kingdom.
The 1880s saw the arrival of British
colonial agents, and between 1890
and 1902, the area now known as
Uganda became a British colonial
polity through a number of
treaty-making engagements
primarily under the auspices
of Captain F.D. Lugard and Sir
Harry Johnston. When a British
Protectorate was proclaimed
over Buganda in 1894, and
subsequently extended to
neighbouring regions, Uganda
was born. 70
European powers’ competition
to secure control over other
areas in Africa resulted in German
chancellor Otto von Bismark calling
them together to discuss their colonial
ambitions in Africa, promote free trade in
contested regions, and partition the continent
according to their national interests. During the
Conference, convened in 1894, the European powers recognised the Protectorate of
70 The information in this paragraph is drawn from Low, D.A. (2009) Fabrication of Empire: The British and
the Uganda Kingdoms 1890-1902. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, and is provided as background
to what participants described as the conflict of the Berlin Conference
64