Challenge of Uganda’s national unity since independence
The
British policy of divide and rule continued until independence in 1962. Since
then independent governments particularly those of Obote and Museveni have
attempted to construct national unity without success.
On October
9, 1962 as the country celebrated independence, the Secretary General of the
ruling Uganda Peoples Congress issued a statement that the main interest of
Britain in Uganda was to create a thick cloud of confusion behind which it could
hide and exploit the country although it posed as the arbiter between the
so-called warring tribes and fanatical religious groups which it nursed and
abated to suit its strategy.
One
of UPC’s government primary goals was to foster national unity. To this end the
government worked to end tribalism, feudalism, religious bigotry and political
opportunism in all their manifestations. Prime Minister and later President
Obote hoped to do so through the mechanism of politics and education.