The country Uganda was established by the British government in 1894, by a declaration of Protectorate over Buganda Kingdom. Before 1894 the peoples of Uganda existed in their native habitats as we know them today. On the basis of linguistics the peoples of pre-Uganda belonged to five groups.1 a) The Bantu-speakers b) The Luo-speakers c) The Ateker-Speakers d) The Sudanic speakers e) The Khoi-san speakers The Bantu The Bantu speakers inhabited the Southern section of the Uganda extending from Mt. Rwenzori in the West to Mt. Elgon in the East and included the following: Bakonjo, Bamba, Basongora, Banyabindi, Batuku, Babwisi,Baamba,Bagwe,Bahehe,Banyole,Baruli, Banyankole, Bahororo, Bakiga, Banyoro, Batoro, Bafumbira, Baganda, Basoga, Basamia, Bagishu (Bamasaba), Bagwere, Bafumbira, Bagungu, Babukusu, Bakenyi, Batagwenda. Some of these large groupings had sub-groups who at the establishment of Uganda protectorate, were subordinated for the larger group. For example the Banyankole had different sections – Banyaruguru and Batagwenda, Bairu and Bahima. The, Baganda had sections like Bakooki,Banyara, Baruli and Bamooli. The Luo The Luo speakers occupied a small section of pre-Uganda in north central and splinter groups in S. Eastern. The Luo-speakers are Acholi and the Jophadhola, Alur, Chope. The Ateker The Ateker speakers inhabited the North Eastern Section of Uganda and include the Karimajong, Sabiny, Iteso, Dodoth, Ethu, Jie, Kumam, Mening, Nepore, Pokot, Langi, Kumam, Labwor, Pokot, Nyangia. The Sudanic The Sudanic speakers inhabited the North western section of pre-Uganda across the Nile and include: Madi, Kakwa, Lugbara, Joham, Kebu, Kuku, Mvuba, Lendu. The Khoi-San The Khoi-San speakers inhabited the Northeast mountainous region of Moroto & Nakapiripirit and the Southern mountainous of Bufumbira and Rwenzori and included: the Teuso and Tepeth in North east and the Mvuba, Vonoma and Batwa in Western Uganda.2 The social-economic and political conditions in pre-Uganda These peoples in pre-Uganda had achieved different levels of social-economic and political progress. Political conditions Centralized communities Politically there were these peoples who had developed centralized kingdoms governed by kings. Examples of these were Buganda Kingdom, Nkore Kingdom, Bunyoro Kingdom, Toro Kingdom, Igara Kingdom, Buhweju Kingdom, Mpororo kingdom Kooki Kingdom etc. Semi-centralised communities There were those peoples (communities) who had developed semi-centralized chiefdoms. Among these communities law and order was maintained by elders and disputes were settled by chiefs, elders and clan leaders. Some of the communities who had developed this political organization were the Alur, Acholi, the Bantu speaking Basoga. Non-Centralised Communities There were those communities who had not developed centralized institutions of political and social organization. In these communities, law and order was maintained by heads of families, heads of lineages and heads of clans. Decisions affecting the community were made in a democratic discussion among the elders and heads of clans. Some of the communities who managed their affairs in this way were the Bakiga, Bagisu, Basmia, Langi, Acholi, Karamajong,Madi, Sabiny, Iteso, Dodoth, Ethu, Jie, Kumam, Mening, Nepore, Pokot, Nyangia to mention but a few. Economic Conditions Economically the people of pre-Uganda were involved in a combination of activities ranging from Agriculture, livestock farming, fishing, mining, hunting and gathering and fabrication. The activities that they would be involved in were partly prescribed by ecology and the environment. Those who lived in a region where there was sufficient rainfall to sustain agriculture were more likely to engage in it while those in the dry and semi-arid regions were more likely to engage in livestock farming. But one activity alone was not sufficient to sustain the family and therefore in addition to the main economic activity, the pre-uganda communities were often involved in another lesser activity such as hunting and gathering, fishing and tending a few domestic animals like goats, goose and chicken. The crop selection was largely determined by climate. For example matooke was the most common food crop in Buganda; millet was most common in western and eastern region; Sweet potatoes and sorghum were most common in south western region; while the semi-arid cattle corridor running from northern Tanzania through Rakai, Masaka Sembabule, Kiboga Nakaseke, Nakasongola to Teso and Karamoja practiced pastoralism. Hunting for wild edible animals such as antelopes, rats, kobs, wild pigs guinea fowls etc was also carried. Gathering involved the picking of wild fruits and berries and mushrooms. Fishing was a main activity that occupied communities who lived in the neighbourhood of lakes like Nalubaale, Mwitanzige, k yoga, Wamala,Masyolo etc Fabrication in pre-Uganda consisted of wood working to make furniture, iron-smelting to make iron tools like hoes, spears, needles, knives, axes etc, pottery, weaving mats and baskets, leather tanning, salt mining and making bark-cloth making etc. Trade was an activity that had developed in Uganda. There were two types: local trade and long distance trade. Local trade involved exchange of goods and services within the same geographical region, while Long distance trade involved travel/movement of goods over long distances. The farmers involved in the exchange of goods like food stuffs for equipments/tools, leather products, cloth, livestock products, labour etc. Long distance trade had developed centering on Bunyoro because of the salt wells but also with the East African coast across L.Nalubale with Arabs, Nyamwezi and Haya traders. The motivation in this trade was foreign goods e.g rifles, bullets, cotton cloths, bracelets, etc. Social Conditions Socially the pre-Ugandan communities had sophisticated networks of relationship amongst themselves. Every pre-Uganda person belonged to a clan. A clan had an insignia-totem- a symbol of identity. Some of the symbols cut across the communities because they had different names in their languages e.g Buffalo clan in Buganda could have and equivalent among the Lugbara. The clans were as a rule exogenous. In the kingdom areas there had developed a caste system which allocated sections of society into permanent positions and relationships for e.g in Nkore there were three sections- the Bahinda – the aristocracy who provided the kings, the Bahima – who were cattle keepers and the elites in Nkore society and the Bairu cultivators who performed the bulk of back- breaking tasks in the kingdom. Similarly in Buganda there was a section of the Balangira (aristocrats) and the commoners-bakopi. It was very rare for a person to cross the bounds of his/her social section into another. Position of Women In all the pre-Uganda societies whether monarchical or non centralized the women occupied a low but central position in the community. Almost all the 56 (fifty six) Ugandan communities are patriarchal. Decent and inheritance follows the male line. In this family structure a woman left her fathers house and family and got absorbed into the family of her husband. Through the institution of bride price the women would literally be purchased from her father’s family. In the New family where she was married the woman’s position was a silent observer in the affairs of the family. Her role was to make and raise children for the family/clan of her husband. In pre-Uganda women did not own property or land. Even when they were widowed, authority over the estate of her husband was vested in the male heir, usually the son or the brother of the deceased. Moreover the idea of private estate ownership in pre-Uganda was still in infancy. The most important form of property being land was owned communally by the clan or linage and therefore collective decision making concerning the utilization of such resource was the most important practice. In the kingdom areas such as Buganda, the king had got the power over all property such as land, minerals, cattle and women. He could take direct control or delegate his ownership to anyone of his subjects as he wished. Religion The pre-Ugandan people were religious people. They worshiped one God- the Creator and Controller of all life and situations who was called different names under the different languages dialects. - Ruhanga – among the Banyankole - Lubanga- among the Luo - Katonda – among the Baganda. - Kibumba – among the Basoga - Were among the Bagisu In addition to God, the pre-Uganda people worshipped/or interacted with God through Spirit mediums called – emandwa, Emizimu, emisambwa, usually associated with the forces of nature such as rain, thunder, lakes, mountains, rainbow, hills, etc. The pre-Ugandans did not worship in churches, but built shrines for worshiping God and the spirits. There has developed a group of priests who claimed to have expertise in intermediation between the pre-Ugandans, the spirit mediums and God. These priests were called different names across the many dialects – omufumu, omusaawo- muganda, etc Health care In pre-Uganda the diagnosis, prevention and cure of disease and administration of medicine was undertaken by elderly women. The older women had mastered knowledge in disease diagnosed and treatment using herbs, medicines of roots and leaves of trees, skins of animals, limited surgical operations (okurumika), bone-setting, midwifery(Traditional Birth Attendance) etc. There were no hospitals in pre-Uganda. The sick were cared for at home by the elderly women of the family The establishment of Uganda 3 Uganda was established along with other countries on the African continent by the rival activities of the European industrialized countries, in a process known as the partition of Africa. The process of European establishment of African colonies took place in the last quarter of the 19th century. This process was in response to events and situations in Europe linked to the industrial revolution, the Christian Revival Movement and the slave trade and slavery abolition movement. The establishment of Uganda followed a series of events of contacts between pre-Uganda countries and outsiders. The first set of contacts was initiated by Arab traders in the 1840s. These contacts approached Uganda from the north and the south. From the north were Arab traders from Egypt (sometimes known as Khartoumers) travelling along the Nile raiding for slaves and hunting for ivory. They established contacts with people in the Acholi region in the 1840s.From the South direction came the Arab traders from Zanzibar on the East African coast and reached Buganda across Lake Nalubaale. The second set of contacts that followed in the tracks of the Arab traders was European Explorers. In the 1840s and 1850s there emerged interest in Europe among the dominant classes about non European lands. Adventurers emerged and set out to Africa to attempt to fill a gap in knowledge about Africa. For many years Africa was regarded in Europe as a dark continent not because the sun did not shine there but because the European elites had inadequate knowledge about Africa, its people, geography and cultures, fauna and flora. This renewed of interest in Africa led to the rise of explorers sponsored by geographical societies or governments. The explorers that came to Uganda were in three episodes. - Speke and Grant 1861-62. - H. M. Stanley in 1870s - Samuel Baker and his wife 1870’s These explorers were driven by the ambition to locate the source of the Nile. Speke and Burton and H M Stanley approached Uganda via the south from the East African Coast while Samuel Baker and his wife approached Uganda from the north along the Nile. The explorers opened the way for European missionaries into Uganda. In one particular incident H.M Stanley’s interaction with Kabaka Mutesa I in 1874 generated a letter to the Queen of England requesting her to send missionaries to Buganda. The Mutesa letter was published in the Daily Telegraph of November 1875. The Mutesa I letter challenged mission/church organizations in Europe to send Christian Missionaries to Buganda. The Roman Catholic, White Fathers from France arrived in Feb 1877 while the Church Missionary Society Missionaries (CMS) from England arrived in 1879. Islam had made small in-roads in Buganda to the extent that Kabaka Suna of Buganda had converted to Islam in the 1860s. The coming of the Christian Missionaries therefore complicated religious matters in Buganda. The king of Buganda was confused by the different claims of the missionary societies about the true God and religion. The converts to the new religions became insubordinate to the King of Buganda, who in anger mounted a persecution drive to rid his kingdom of foreign influence. The persecutions led to the martyrdom of scores of Christians and Muslim converts (who have passed into the Uganda National past as the Uganda Martyrs). The persecution of the converts to the new religions, stimulated religious wars in Buganda. The converts realized that if they had to be safe, they had to take power for themselves. The contest for power in Buganda between Catholics, Anglicans and Muslims lead to religious wars between and among the three groups during the period 1887-1892. While these events were going on in Uganda, the European industrial nations met at the Berlin Conference in 1885- 86 and partitioned Africa among themselves. At that conference East Africa was partitioned among the three European powers – UK, Germany and Belgium. By several other treaties the boundaries of the countries in the region were agreed upon, and Uganda became a British sphere of influence. The religious wars in Buganda raised anxiety in England among the political and Christian leaders and created the urgency for effective occupation of the territory. The first step was to appoint and license a company – the Imperial British East Africa Company- IBEACo to administer the British Sphere of influence which also included Kenya (known at the time as British East Africa). The first agent of the IBEACo to operate in Uganda was Sir Fredrick Lugard. Lugard entered in Uganda in 1892 at the height of conflicts between and among Catholics, Anglicans and Muslims in Uganda. Realizing that he would need an army to effectively control the new territory, he travelled to western Uganda, south of L. Albert and hired the Sudanese who had been abandoned by the Egyptian Governor of Equatorial Province Emin Pasha in the 1880s, following nationalist revolt in Sudan. This action brought about into Uganda the ethnic community of the Nubians as an indigenous community. Lugard then took sides with the Anglican CMS converts against the Catholic WF converts and Muslims and defeated the latter groups and established the Anglicans as the dominant group in the power politics of Uganda. The Uganda Protectorate The religious wars ended with the British declaration of a protectorate over Buganda in 1894. The declaration which took place in England had to be effected on the ground in Uganda. The process of effective British occupation of Buganda and the creation of Uganda was a step-by step one involving international treaties, local treaties or agreements, military invasion and conquest and political occupation. The process started with Uganda – Usoga Agreement of 1895.With this agreement Buganda surrendered her claims over tribute from Busoga and Uganda protectorate took over. By the Buganda Agreement of 1900 Buganda agreed among other things, to be a province of the Uganda Protectorate- Buganda boundaries were expanded to include Baruli, Bamooli, Bakooki and Banyara. The Toro Agreement of 1900 incorporated the kingdom of Toro into the Uganda protectorate. The boundaries of the kingdom were enlarged to include Bakonzo, Bamba, Babwisi, Basongora, Batwa, Batuku, Mvuba. The 1901 Ankore Agreement incorporated Nkore kingdom into the Uganda Protectorate. The New Ankole Kingdom, was enlarged with the incorporation of Ibanda, Buhweju, Igara and Kajara, which had hither to been independent kingdoms having broken off form the collapsed Mpororo kingdom in the previous half century. Kigezi was incorporated in the Uganda protectorate by the forceful take over by Baganda chiefs. In Bufumbira the British appointed a local chief Makobore who was the hereditary ruler as the Paramount chief. Bunyoro was incorporated into the Uganda protectorate by military invasion and conquest by British colonial forces assisted by Buganda officers during the period 1897 – 1899. The region north of Busoga and East Busoga was added to the Uganda protectorate by the military activities of Semi Kakungulu during the period 1896 – 1902 and the district was known as Bukedi. The northern Lango in Acholi region were brought into the Uganda protectorate by military occupation during the period 1907 -1913. The Karamoja region was brought into the Uganda Protectorate during the period 1913 -1921 by military occupation. The West Nile region (Lado Enclave) was added to the Uganda protectorate during the period 1910 -14 by international negotiation and treaty between Britain and Belgium which adjusted the boundaries between Belgian Congo, Uganda Protectorate and Sudan. By 1921 all the present Uganda communities had been brought under the Uganda Protectorate. The establishment of Uganda by the British colonial office had varied immediate and long term consequences for the Ugandan peoples. 1. In Buganda the establishment of the Uganda Protectorate, re-structured the Buganda social and political structure. There emerged a class of chiefs who assumed positions of power which they had not had before on account of the appointments to administrative roles and land ownership revenue accruing from it. - There was another cadre of chiefs who were appointed by the protectorate government to extend the Kiganda model of local administration into Ankole, Kigezi, Toro, Bunyoro, Busoga and Bukedi. Many of these chiefs accumulated power and wealth out of extortion and plunder of the communities where they had been appointed. - The land grants of 1900, created a class of land owners and another of landless or tenants(Squatters). - In Bunyoro the establishment of Uganda Protectorate caused humiliation and defeat. The kingdom was occupied by Baganda generals, lost, territory to Buganda kingdom and some of the land was granted to Baganda chiefs. The Banyoro accuse the Baganda chiefs of spreading diseases such s gonorrhea and syphilis in the region and forced assimilation of Banyoro into the Buganda culture. - In Ankole the establishment of the Uganda Protectorate coincided with the outbreak of small pox and rinderpest epidemic which killed scores of peoples and hundreds of cattle respectively. - In Busoga and Eastern Buganda the establishment of the protectorate came along with the outbreak of sleeping sickness which claimed thousands of lives. For example there was a population decline in Busoga during the period 1895-1923 from 430,000 to 230,000 due to the sleeping sickness epidemic and famine. The Buganda population declined from over 1 million in 1888 to about 650,000 in 1920. The Uganda Protectorate In 1926 the survey department accomplished the work of boundary demarcation and gave Uganda its modern shape. The protectorate was divided into 12 administrative divisions: 11 districts and one province. - The one province was Buganda which was administered as one unit by through their native institutions supervised by a resident commission- Briton The other districts were 1. Ankole District 2. Bunyoro District 3. Busoga District 4. Bukedi District 5. Acholi District 6. Lango District 7. West Nile District 8. Karamoja District 9. Toro District 10. Kigezi District 11. Teso District The districts were headed by a District Commissioner (who was an Englishman). The districts were sub-divided into countries, the counties into sub-counties and sub-counties into parishes.4 In the kingdom areas the sons of the chiefs who had been overthrown, were appointed as sub-county and county chiefs. But in the non kingdom areas such as Teso, Bukedi, Karamoja, Acholi, West Nile, Lango etc, the protectorate government appointed chiefs from within the community, formerly elders and clan heads. The chiefs were charged with the constructions and maintenance of village roads and bridges, the collection of taxes, the supervision of public health and sanitation and communicating protectorate government laws and directives. Economy 5 One of the objectives of the British establishment of colonial rule in Africa was to obtain raw materials for her industries and market outlets for her industrial produce. In order to satisfy this objective, the first economic decision, they made was to build a railway from Mombasa to Uganda. This was accomplished during the period 1897-1901. The building of the railway made it cheapest, faster to transport manufactured goods form Mombasa to Uganda and raw materials exports from Uganda to Mombasa for export to Britain. The railway construction was achieved using Indian laborers from India. The second decision was to introduce cash crops. Cotton was the first cash crop introduced in 1901, to be followed by coffee, sugarcane, tea, rubber in that order. But the Ugandan people used to their subsistence economy could not willingly take up cash crop production. Therefore in order to force the Ugandan peoples to get involved in the cash crop production, the protectorate government introduced taxes. Gun tax in Buganda, hut tax and later poll tax in the rest of the protectorate. Since the cash crops were first cultivated in Buganda, peoples from other regions had to migrate into Buganda to sell their labour to earn money for paying taxes. Laborers migrated from Ankole, Kigezi, Rwanda, Burundi, Eastern Congo, Bunyoro, Toro, West Nile etc to Buganda region to sell their labour as workers in coffee, cotton, sugar plantations. This pattern continued into the 1960’s in case of cotton and coffee, but continues up to the present in the West Nile region with sugar plantations. To ease transport and communications up and down the protectorate, the protectorate government instituted forced labour on the natives for the construction and maintenance of roads. To hasten the process of exporting raw materials and importing and distributing manufactured goods the protectorate government encouraged the migration and trade activities of Indians. The Indians were middlemen between the Ugandans and the British capitalists. The former bought the raw materials such as cotton, coffee or sugarcane and processed them and then sold them to English capitalist firms for export. The Indians bought manufactured products from British firms, and distributed them through their whole sale and retail outlets/business in the towns that were established in the protectorate. Furthermore, as part of the process of exploiting the protectorate for the British state, the protectorate government permitted the establishment of Banks owned by British capitalists. The prominent banks that were established in Uganda were Barclays Bank, Grindlays Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda etc. The protectorate government did not pay attention to education and health. These aspects were left in the hands of the missionaries and religious organizations particularly the Catholic Church beginning with Lubaga Hospital, Nsambya Hospital, before spreading out to the rest of the protectorate. Until independence the Christian Missionaries were the major providers of health services in Uganda. The missions also established schools and Teacher Training Colleges. The protectorate government, beginning in the late 1920s, provided supervisory and overseer roles, setting the curriculum, co-coordinating the examination process, and setting the national standard for formal education in Uganda. The pattern of development of formal education was therefore set by the churches Catholic and Anglican churches. Only a few secondary schools were started by the protectorate government e.g Gayaza High School, Kings College Budo, Ntare School During the First World War a few hundred Ugandans were recruited to fight against Germany in Tanganyika. During the second world war a few thousands Ugandans were enlisted to fight Germany, Italy, Japan, and served in Egypt, Ethiopia, the Middle East and Burma in S. West Asia. The experiences of the Second World War and the expansion of formal education together with the colonial policies of taxation, forced labor, Asian domination of commerce led to the rise of anti-colonial movement. The Anti colonial protest in Uganda had three stages • The primary resistance against establishment of colonial rule e.g -Nyangire rebellion in Bunyoro - Nyabingi cult in Kigezi and Northern Rwanda -Lamogi rebellion in East Acholi -Padhola revolt in Tororo • The second protest was civil in form of tribal associations: - Basoga welfare Association - Bagwere Association\ - Young Baganda Association - Young Lango Association - The Young Bagisu Association - The Young men of Toro - The Mubende- Bunyoro Committee • The third stage was the formation of political parties and trade unions e.g - The Bataka Party. -The Uganda Drivers and Allied Workers Federation -The Uganda African Farmers Union UAFU -The Uganda National Congress. The pressure and protests organized by political parties and trade union in the Uganda protectorate speeded up the progress towards independence. The process of attaining Independence in Uganda was harried but complex. It was initiated by Governor Andrew Cohen who served in Uganda 1952-58.The process started with the governor proposing constitutional reforms in Buganda and the Uganda protectorate. One of the reforms was to elect Africans on the Legislative Council of the protectorate. Disagreements developed between Kabaka Mutesa II and the governor over the proposed reforms which led the Govenor to withdraw recognition from Kbaka Mutesa II and deport him to England in November 1953.The deportation of Kabaka Mutesa II accelerated the protest against the British government. New political parties were formed such as the Democratic Party, Uganda National Movement and other regions outside Buganda were awakened to participate in the anti-colonial protest. The negotiations between The Governor and the Buganda Lukiiko for allowing Kabaka Mutesa II to return in October 1955 cleared the way for the implementation of the national constitutional reforms. In accordance with these reforms, the number of Africans to the Legislative Council of Uganda protectorate was to be increased to 18 and to be directly elected in the districts. This was done in 1958. The meeting of the Legco led to the formation of a new political party- the Uganda Peoples’ Congress (UPC).The party was formed among the non-Baganda politicians disturbed by Buganda’s dominance of the political space of Uganda. As the Protectorate government forged ahead to prepare for independence, Buganda first tried to secede from the protectorate at the end of 1961, but when this failed, the kingdom decided to do to things. First, she decided to form a political party around the Kabaka in order ensure that the kingdom position remained unified. Secondly, the decided to forge a partnership any other groups in the protectorate which would guarantee Buganda’s maintenance of her privilege in the independent Uganda. In the subsequent constitutional conferences held in London in preparation for independence, and the processes leading to independence in October 1962, Buganda forged a partnership with UPC. The alliance between the Uganda Peoples’ Congress and Kabaka Yekka enabled Milton Obote to become the Prime Minister and lead the rest of the Uganda Protectorate to receive the instruments of independence from Britain, after 67 years of colonial rule. This ended one epoch of Uganda’s history and opened the door to another. _____________________________________________________________________ End notes 1. S.R. Karugire (1980), A Political History of Uganda, Hieneman Nairobi, p.1-16. 2.A full list of the 56 indigenous communities in Uganda Protectorate by 1926 when the boundary fixing was completed can be accessed in the Third Schedule of the 1995 constitution. A discussion of the physical habitats can be accessed in Jan Jorgensen (1981), Uganda; A Modern History p.33-76. 3.S.R.Karugire (1980) A Political…. P.49-98. 4. Up to 1969 the counties, sub counties and parishes in parts of Eastern and western Uganda bore Kiganda names e.g Mutuba, Mumyuka, Sabaddu, Sebagabo etc. 5.Jan Jorgensen(1981), Uganda:A Modern History, St Martin’s Press, New York. REFERENCES. 1.Jorgensen J.J , Uganda:Amodern History, St Martins Press, New York, 1981. 2.Karugire S.R. A Political History of Uganda, Heineman, Nairobi 1980. 3.Republic of Uganda (1995) The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda 1995 Source: UgandaFind