|
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
DEMOCRACY,
HUMAN RIGHTS AND GOOD GOVERNANCE IN UGANDA
President Museveni during election campaign during
the 2006 elections in Kabale.
When Yoweri Museveni and his National Resistance Army/Movement (NRA/M)
took the reigns of power in Uganda after a five-year-long guerrilla
war, Uganda was a country infamous for massive civilian killings and
other human rights abuses on an enormous scale.
Idi Amin
Idi Amin's rule of Uganda began
in 1971 when he seized power in a coup. Amin’s capacity for brutality
soon became clear During the military dictatorship of Idi Amin
(1971-1979) and after the return to power of Milton Obote in 1980,
hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed and many more were
subjected to arbitrary arrest, beatings, torture, and other abuse.
Apollo Milton Obote
Apollo Milton Obote was the Prime
Minister of Uganda 1962-1966 and President of Uganda
1966-1971/1980-1985; He was a Ugandan political leader who led Uganda
to independence from the British colonial administration in 1962. He
was overthrown by Idi Amin in 1971, but gained power again in 1980. His
second rule was marred by repression and the death of many civilians
during a civil war.
The NRA/NRM took power in 1986 on a platform promising a "fundamental
revolution" and not "a mere change of the guard." Since then, the NRM
enjoyed a virtual monopoly on political power in Uganda until the July
2005 Ugandan referendum which brought back multi-party politics.
Multi-party politics made a comeback in 2005 Referendum
REFERENDUM QUESTION: "Do you agree to open up the political
space to allow those who wish to join different organizations/ parties
to do so to compete for political power?"A huge
majority of Uganda's voters - 92.5% supported restoring multi-party
politics in Uganda.
The human rights record of Uganda has improved significantly since the
NRM took power. However, Uganda continues to experience difficulty in
advancing respect for human rights in matters concerning torture, child
labor, and liberties
One of the torture victims Uganda. This is against human rights
The Poverty Eradication Action plan (PEAP), which is the main Ugandan
policy framework for poverty eradication, sets governance as the fourth
pillar The Government of the Republic of Uganda has committed itself to
develop a culture of good governance through the fight of corruption,
accountability and transparency, and decentralization of government,
functions.
However, the Ugandan situation has in the past decade failed to offer
an environment in which citizenship participation in government could
genuinely be achieved. This lack of participation by citizens has been
highlighted by the ever-recurrent low voter turnout during elections,
and the lopsided representation of women, youth and minority groups
Inadequate information has led to limited participation by citizens.
Restricted access to media by both the political players and civic
organizations’ particularly those involved in political related
awareness programs has left many people poorly informed about
alternatives to government propagated policies, thereby limiting their
effective participation.
|
|
|
|
|
