Lessons for Uganda from the 1979 Iranian revolution

What is happening in Uganda right now is almost reminiscent of what happened in Iran before the 1979 revolution. The background story to that revolution might help the NRM leadership, Ugandans at home and abroad and others interested in Uganda’s peace and security to take preventive steps to avoid a revolution, civil war or continued dictatorship.

According to Ervand Abrahamian (2008), the revolution “erupted like a volcano because of the overwhelming pressures that had built up over the decades deep in the bowels of Iranian society. By 1977, the Shah was sitting on such a volcano, having alienated almost every sector of society. He began his autocratic rule adamantly opposed by the intelligentsia and the urban working class. This opposition intensified over the years”.