Under NRM leadership Uganda is moving backwards
Since Uganda became a nation in 1894, it has gone through four major development phases:
- The colonial phase from 1894 to October 8, 1962
- The UPC I phase from October 9 1962 to 1970
- The chaotic phase from 1971 to 1985
- The promising phase turned disastrous from 1986 to 2010
The colonial period
The colonial phase was marked by rearranging pre-colonial land and labor relations away from production for domestic consumption and trading of agricultural and manufactured products within eastern and central Africa markets to the production of commodity exports to Britain in exchange for manufactured products. The best lands and male labor were diverted into producing export crops of cotton, coffee, tea and tobacco. Increasing the production and consumption of maize, cassava and plantains at the expense of more nutritious millet and sorghum led to under-nutrition and related illnesses. Heavy taxation of peasants reduced disposable incomes to cover basic needs of health and education and housing etc.