GOVERNMENT
The 1995 constitution established Uganda as a republic with an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. The constitution provides for an executive president, to be elected every 5 years. President Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986, was elected in 1996 and reelected in 2001 and 2006. Legislative responsibility is vested in the parliament; legislative elections were last held February 2006. There are currently 102 women representatives in the 332-member parliament. The Ugandan judiciary operates as an independent branch of government and consists of magistrate's courts, high courts, courts of appeals, and the Supreme Court. Parliament and the judiciary have significant amounts of independence and wield significant power.
POLITICAL CONDITIONS
Since assuming power, Museveni and his government have largely put an end to the human rights abuses of earlier governments, initiated substantial economic liberalization and general press freedom, and instituted economic reforms in accord with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and donor governments.
The vicious and cult-like Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), which seeks to overthrow
the Ugandan Government, has murdered and kidnapped civilians in the north and
east since 1986. Although the LRA does not threaten the stability of the
government, LRA violence at one time displaced up to 1.8 million people,
creating a humanitarian catastrophe, particularly when they were forced into
internally displaced persons (IDP) camps for their own protection. The Uganda
Peoples Defense Force (UPDF) launched "Operation Iron Fist" against LRA rebels in northern Uganda in 2002 and conducted operations against LRA sanctuaries in southern Sudan with the permission of the Sudanese Government. The Sudanese Government had previously supported the LRA.
In 2005, the Ugandan military pushed the LRA out of northern Uganda. The LRA
escaped to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C.) and continued to
operate there, southern Sudan, and occasionally in Central African Republic.
Under military pressure, the LRA requested peace talks. Government of Southern
Sudan Vice President Riek Machar mediated a 2-1/2 year peace process which
resulted in a Final Peace Agreement (FPA) in April 2008. LRA leader Joseph Kony
refused to sign the FPA and continued to commit atrocities against local
populations in D.R.C., southern Sudan, and C.A.R. On December 14, 2008 the
Governments of Uganda, D.R.C., and southern Sudan launched a joint military
operation against the LRA in northeastern D.R.C. The operation is ongoing.
There have been no LRA attacks in northern Uganda since August 2006. As a
result, the majority of the 1.8 million IDPs have returned to or near their
homes.
Principal
Government Officials
President and Commander in Chief--Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
Vice President--Dr. Gilbert Bukenya
Prime Minister--Apollo Nsibambi
Foreign Minister--Sam Kutesa
Minister of Defense--Crispus Kiyonga
Ambassador to the United States--Perezi K. Kamunanwire
Uganda
maintains an embassy in the United States at 5909 16th Street
NW, Washington, DC 20011 (tel. 202-726-7100).
Type: Republic.
Constitution: Ratified July 12, 1995; promulgated October 8, 1995.
Independence: October 9, 1962.
Branches: Executive--president, vice president, prime minister, cabinet. Legislative--parliament. Judicial--Magistrate's Court, High Court, Court of Appeals, Supreme Court.
Administrative subdivisions: 80 districts.
Political parties: In 2006, approximately 33 parties were allowed to function, including political parties that existed in 1986, when the National Resistance Movement assumed power.
Suffrage: Universal adult.
National holiday: Independence Day, October 9.
