Uganda, country in east-central Africa. About the size of Great Britain, Uganda is populated by dozens of ethnic groups. The English language and Christianity help unite these diverse peoples, who come together in the cosmopolitan capital of Kampala, a verdant city whose plan includes dozens of small parks and public gardens and a scenic promenade along the shore of Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest freshwater lake. The Swahili language unites the country with its East African neighbors Kenya and Tanzania.
“Uganda is a fairy-tale. You climb up a railway instead of a beanstalk, and at the end there is a wonderful new world,” wrote Sir Winston Churchill, who visited the country during its years under British rule and who called it “the pearl of Africa.” Indeed, Uganda embraces many ecosystems, from the tall volcanic mountains of the eastern and western frontiers to the densely forested swamps of the Albert Nile River and the rainforests of the country’s central plateau. The land is richly fertile, and Ugandan coffee has become both a mainstay of the agricultural economy and a favorite of connoisseurs around the world.
Uganda obtained formal independence on October 9, 1962. Its borders, drawn in an artificial and arbitrary manner in the late 19th century, encompassed two essentially different types of societies: the relatively centralized Bantu kingdoms of the south and the more decentralized Nilotic and Sudanic peoples to the north. The country’s sad record of political conflict, coupled with environmental problems and the ravages of a countrywide AIDSepidemic, hindered progress and growth for many years. Yet, even so, at the beginning of the 21st century a popularly elected civilian government ruled Uganda, which had attained political stability, had set an example for tackling the AIDS crisis that threatened to overwhelm the continent, and enjoyed one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa.
Corruption constitutes a major challenge for businesses operating or planning to invest in Uganda. The police, the judiciary and procurement are areas where corruption risks are very high and under-the-table cash payments are expected. The core of Uganda’s legal anti-corruption framework is the Anti-Corruption Act, the Penal Code, the Inspectorate of Government Act 2002, the Public Finance Management Act 2015 and the Leadership Code Act 2002 (LCA). The Penal Code provides instruments to deal with various corruption offenses including embezzlement, causing financial loss, abuse of office and fraud. The LCA is designed to increase transparency and to curb corruption among senior public officials; it also criminalizes attempted corruption, active and passive bribery, extortion, bribery of a foreign public official and abuse of office. Under the LCA, gifts or donations must be declared if they exceed five currency points in value. Corruption challenges are exacerbated by weak law enforcement, which fuels a culture of impunity. There is no distinction between a bribe and a facilitation payment under Ugandan law.
President of Uganda
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni blasted the deep state and the fake news media during an interview with NPR ahead of the country’s 2021 presidential election against liberal candidate Bobi Wine. Although he has served as a close ally of the United States while in office, Museveni expressed dismay that the U.S. deep state appeared to be funding riots in the guise of “peaceful protests”, which were aimed at ousting him from office in a color revolution.
“[Protesters] were attacking other people, because they have been told that they should cause an uprising here like happened in Libya, like happened in Syria… so they are [American] agents,” he told NPR.
“They are no longer part of a protest movement. They are now agents of foreign schemes, here.”
Museveni had previously described Wine as an “agent of foreign interests” and closely aligned with the pro-homosexual lobby. In contrast, Museveni has emphasized a patriotic, Uganda-first agenda, and a strong stance against homosexuality. He has also been credited with a recent era of economic prosperity in Uganda.
He added that although he believed in the right to protest, the rioters’ attacks on police, civilians and property meant a strong response was necessary.
“According to the police procedures, if people are protesting, there is a way you handle it — but if now they overrun — overrun, for instance, a police station — you will have to stop it by using lethal fire,” he said. “Rioting and attacking civilians and attacking property, it is something that we cannot accept.”
“America has got one of the best presidents ever,” Mr Museveni said to laughter during the opening of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) in the Ugandan capital of Kampala.
“I love Trump because he tells Africans frankly. The Africans need to solve their problems, the Africans are weak.”
In recent days, big tech giants Twitter and Facebook have engaged in censorship of the Museveni presidential campaign and its supporters, prompting the President to ban these social media platforms from the country, in order to stop them interfering with the outcome of the election. (Source: NationalFile)
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) its annual Peace Prize for 2020 on Friday, overlooking a history of corruption, mismanagement, and sexual assault among its ranks. In its statement announcing the decision, the Committee expressed mounting concern about lack of access to food globally, particularly in light of repressive government lockdowns to prevent the spread of the Chinese coronavirus. The WFP, it ...
Tutsi forces from Rwanda and Uganda, supported by the U.S.A., invaded Zaire, now Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in August of 1998 in a coup d'etat to overthrow President Joseph Kabila whom they installed into power a year previous. One may recall that Mobutu Sese Seko (born Joseph-Desiré Mobutu) was put in power by the CIA in 1965. At independence he was a Sargent in the ...
Uganda, country in east-central Africa. About the size of Great Britain, Uganda is populated by dozens of ethnic groups. The English language and Christianity help unite these diverse peoples, who come together in the cosmopolitan capital of Kampala, a verdant city whose plan includes dozens of small parks and public gardens and a scenic promenade along the shore of Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest freshwater lake. The Swahili language unites the country with its East African neighbors Kenya and Tanzania.
