DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND GOOD GOVERNANCE IN UGANDA
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'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 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.
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
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.
