Uganda has experienced intermittent conflict since the 1960s. In 1971, Idi Amin led a coup against the repressive regime of Milton Obote. Amin’s rule led to tremendous suffering for the people of Uganda. He led a brutal and corrupt military government, under which atrocities were committed against civilians with impunity. Religious and ethnic conflict was common, thousands of Ugandans of Asian descent were expelled, and Uganda supported foreign terrorist organizations. Amin was overthrown in a Tanzanian invasion in 1979, ending 8 years of state terrorism that had left potentially hundreds of thousands of Ugandans dead.
Following two years of instability and political violence, Obote returned to power in a disputed election. His regime soon faced opposition by a variety of groups, including Yoweri Museveni’s National Resistance Army, which launched a guerilla war against the regime. This conflict, which became known as the Ugandan Bush War, would last until 1986. Obote received some support from North Korea, while Museveni had support from Rwandan refugees living in Uganda. The conflict claimed up to half a million lives, many of them civilians. Obote’s government took many drastic measures to combat the NRA, with hundreds of thousands forcibly displaced in efforts to deprive the guerillas of support. Routine torture and enforced disappearances, carried out by state forces, which had been a mainstay of Amin’s regime, remained common. After Obote was overthrown in a military coup, the NRA took power, and Museveni has governed ever since.
Victory for Museveni and the NRA may have ended the violent political conflict in Uganda, but it did not bring lasting peace. Uganda became involved in two extraordinarily destructive wars in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo. Both caused tremendous human suffering in the DRC, with hundreds of thousands killed, millions of excess deaths, and numerous atrocities committed by all sides, along with many Ugandan casualties. Part of the reason for Ugandan involvement was to combat rebel groups operating in Congolese territory. One major rebel group, known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), fought a decades-long insurgency in Northern Uganda and surrounding countries. The LRA killed thousands and displaced over a million Ugandans at the height of the conflict, and became known for its widespread abductions of children, many of whom were forced to become soldiers.
In 2023, the DRC allowed Ugandan troops to operate on its territory as they fight a rebel group which has sworn allegiance to the Islamic State. The Museveni regime’s political repression has continued, with past elections seeing violence committed against opposition figures. A draconian new law targets the LGBT community, and Museveni’s son has publicly threatened neighboring states with invasion on social media. Tensions remain with Rwanda, with the border between the two countries having been closed recently. While the majority of violence has subsided, long term peace for the people of Uganda is not guaranteed. Events such as the military intervention in Eastern Congo, and the precipitating bombings in Kampala, show that there is still an elevated risk of further conflict in the region.
Peace attempts:
Uganda is yet to have a democratic transition of power. Past changes of authority have come from either military coups or through one side being victorious in war. Yoweri Museveni has ruled the country for 37 years, and it is unclear what the political situation will be after him. Other conflicts in the region, such as the LRA insurgency, have generally been addressed with a military approach as opposed to peacebuilding. The LRA and other large rebel groups have been defeated, but that military victory came at a great humanitarian cost. Recent military operations in the DRC show that military solutions are still seen as the default. However, recent rapprochement with Rwanda and diplomacy with the DRC is a welcome change for the region, and indicates that there could be more potential for peacebuilding in Uganda and the Great Lakes region.
