Uganda: Political System
According to CANCERMATTERS.NET, Uganda is a presidential republic in the Commonwealth on paper. The unicameral parliament consists of 276 members, 214 of whom are elected and 62 are appointed by the president. The Constituent Assembly consists of 288 members, 214 of whom are elected and 74 are appointed. The head of state is directly elected every five years. See AbbreviationFinder for more information about Uganda politics, and acronyms as well.
The official name of the country is:
| Republic of Uganda |
National anthem
Oh Uganda, Land of Beauty has been Uganda’s national anthem since 1962. The music is by George Wilberforce Kakoma. Peter Wingard wrote the text.
| In English | In the English translation |
| Oh Uganda! may God uphold thee,We lay our future in thy hand;
United, free for liberty together we’ll always stand. Oh Uganda! the land of freedom, Our love and labor we give; And with neighbors all At our country’s call In peace and friendship we’ll live. Oh Uganda! the land that feeds us, By sun and fertile soil grown; For our own dear land, We’ll always stand, The Pearl of Africa’s Crown. |
Oh, Uganda, may God keep you,We put our future in your hands,
United, ready for freedom Together we will always stand. Oh Uganda! Land of freedom, we give our love and our work and with all our neighbors we will live on the call of our land peacefully and amicably. Oh Uganda! The land that nourishes us Grown by sun and fertile soil; For our beloved land, we will always stand up, The pearl of Africa’s crown. |
National flag
The national flag (country flag) of Uganda was officially introduced on October 9, 1962 after independence from the United Kingdom from Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK). Based on flag descriptions by Countryaah.com, the colors and symbols of the flag are interpreted as follows:
– Black symbolizes the people of Africa
– Yellow symbolizes the sun
– Red stands for the brotherhood of the people
– The crowned crane was not used by any of the previous kingdoms and tribes and is therefore generally used as a neutral emblem accepted.
- Check top-mba-universities for public holidays, sports events, UNESCO world heritage sites and major places to visit in Uganda.
Uganda: People we know
Sulaiman Tenywa Bonseu (born 1976)
Bonseu is a Ugandan football player from Kampala. Most recently, he played for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds and for the Ugandan national soccer team.
John Akii-Bua (1949-1997)
Akii-Bua became the first Ugandan runner to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games. That was in 1972 when he was able to set a new world record time for the 400 meter hurdles in Munich.
Idi Amin Dada (1928-2003)
Idi Amin was considered one of the cruelest dictators in Africa. He ruled his country with brutal violence from 1971 to 1979. As “His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of all creatures on earth and all fish of the seas and conqueror of the British Empires in Africa in general and Uganda in particular “politicians to be designated” came to power in a 1971 coup. It is estimated that up to 400,000 people died under him. In terms of foreign policy, he followed a racist, pro-Soviet and anti-Israel course. In 1978 he declared war on Tanzania. The war was lost, however, and Amine was also deposed. The “butcher of Africa” fled to Libya, Iraq and finally to Saudi Arabia,
Moses Isegawa (born 1963)
The writer, born in 1963 in Kawempe, Uganda, became famous with his debut novel Abyssinian Chronicle from 1990. His novel The Snake Pit, in which he deals with the recent political history of his country, is also known.
Ayub Kalule (born 1954)
The former Ugandan boxer, born in Kampala in 1954, started his career as a professional boxer in Denmark in 1976. In 1985 he became European champion.
China Keitetsi (born 1976 You can read about the
fact that girls in Uganda were also “recruited” as child soldiers in China Keitetsi’s novel They Took My Mother and gave me a gun.
David Kato Kisule (1964-2011)
In 2011, one of the most famous gay activists in his country was murdered by two hammer blows on the head. Kisule’s funeral in Namataba turned into a farce when an Anglican priest gave a hate speech against homosexuals on the occasion.
Joseph Kony (born around 1961)
Joseph Kony is the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army from Odek. This feared Ugandan rebel group is terrorizing the civilian population in the north of Uganda and is waging a cruel guerrilla war against the Ugandan government. The aim of Kony’s group is to transform Uganda into a Christian state of God.
Taban lo Liyong (born 1938)
Taban lo Liyong is a Sudan-born Ugandan poet and literary scholar who has taught at various universities around the world. A new translation of Okot p’Bitek’s “Lawinos Lied” from 1999 is part of his rather minor literary work.
Frederick John Dealtry Lugard (1858-1945)
Lugard was a British soldier, explorer, and most importantly, colonial administrator. In 1890 – after a number of other tasks – he was posted to Buganda, where he was responsible as a colonial administrator. In this role he founded the fort, in the vicinity of which Kampala was later built. His main political task was to come to agreements with the Omukama (King) Kasagama of Toro in order to bind Toro to the British Empire. This ultimately led to the establishment of the Uganda Protectorate. The Kingdom of Toro was one of a series of kingdoms at the time and is located on the south bank of Lake Albert.
Mahmood Mamdani (born 1946)
The anthropologist and political scientist Mahmood Mamdani was born in 1946 in Bombay, India. But he grew up in the Ugandan capital Kampala. The main theme of Mamdani is religious fundamentalism and its effects on politics and society.
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (born 1944)
Museveni has been the President of Uganda since 1986. He privatized companies and fueled conflicts with Rwanda, Sudan and the DR Congo through his politics. Domestically, he fights against the radical Lord’s Resistance Army, which is pushing for the establishment of a state of God in Uganda. Museveni’s successes included the containment of the immune deficiency disease AIDS and the diplomatic disarmament of Ugandan fighters.
Savio Nsereko (born 1989)
The German football player of AC Florence, known for short as Savio, was born in 1989 in the Ugandan capital Kampala. He is currently playing for the Bulgarian first division club FC Chernomorez Burgas.
Apollo Milton Obote (1924-2005)
Obote was President of Uganda from 1966 to 1971 and again from 1980 to 1985. Between his first and second terms in office, his army chief Idi Amin ruled the country with a hard hand.
Okot p’Bitek (1931-1982)
P’Bitek was a Ugandan poet and ethnologist whose most important work was Lawinos Lied (Wer pa Lawino). The work, written in Acholi, was translated into English by Taban lo Liyong in 1999.
Pilkington Ssengendo (born 1942)
The well-known Ugandan painter Pilkington Ssengendo is his 1992 Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Kampala’s Makerere University. His art was initially characterized by a landscape impressionism.
Uganda: animals
Mammals
Mountain gorillas
About half of all mountain gorillas worldwide live in the 391 km² Bwindi National Park, an almost impenetrable rainforest in the extreme southwest of Uganda.
Antelopes
– Beisa antelopes – Elliptical
waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus) (see below)
– Swamp antelopes
– Ugandan grass antelope (Kobus thomasi), also known as Uganda Kob
buffalo
Elephants
Erdwolfe
Erdwolfe (Proteles cristata) belong to the genus Proteles in the subfamily of the Protelinae and in the family of the hyenas (Hyaenidae). Aardwolf are the smallest species in the hyena family. They reach a head-trunk length between 55 to 80 cm, with a bushy 20 to 30 cm long tail. Your shoulder height is between 45 and 50 cm. The weight varies between 8 and 12 kg in southern Africa and up to 14 kg in the east.
Hippos
Cheetahs
Giraffes
Golden monkeys
The golden monkey (Cercopithecus kandti) is a primate of the genus monkeys (Cercopithecus) in the family of Cercopithecidae (Cercopithecidae). The animals live exclusively in a few smaller areas in the area of the Virunga volcanoes and around Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.
The animals reach a head-trunk length of 55 to 65 and a tail about 80 cm long. The weight of the males is 7 to 10 kg, that of the females 3 to 4 kg.
Their fur is golden yellow to reddish on the back. The shoulders, arms and legs, the last third of the tail and the top of the head are blackish in color. The perineum and the underside of the tail base are yellow and then alternately colored red and black.
Leopards
Spoondogs
Spoonbills (Otocyon megalotis) are also known as spoonbills. The animals from the genus Otocyon belong to the tribius of the real foxes (Vulpini) in the family deer dogs (Canidae). The animals reach a head-trunk length between 45 and 65 cm, with a 25 to 35 cm long tail. The shoulder height is 30 to 40 cm, with a weight of 3.0 to 5.5 kg. Their namesake black ears, which are up to 15 cm long, are striking. Their about 3 cm long undercoat is gray with white tips, while the about 5.5 cm long outer hair is colored black with a white tip. The face shows a black mask drawing reminiscent of a raccoon.
Lions
Coat monkeys
The black-and-white-colored coat monkeys (Colobus guereza) with their flowing white tail is found in Bwindi National Park, a close to impenetrable rainforest in the far southwest of Uganda. The animals reach a head-trunk length of 50 to 65 cm, with a bushy tail that is 55 to 90 cm long. Their weight varies between 8 and 15 kg, with the males being significantly heavier than the females.
Reedbucks
The reedbucks (Redunca) are a genus of African hornbucks (Bovidae) in the family of hornbucks (Bovidae), which are related to the waterbuck. The reedbuck genus is divided into nine species. The animals have a head-trunk length of between 110 to 160 cm, with a shoulder height of 60 to 100 cm. The color of their fur varies from light brown to gray on the top, while the underside is whitish. Only the males have horns 20 to 40 cm long.
Giant
Forest Pigs The Giant Forest Pigs (Hylochoerus meinertzhageni) belong to the genus Hylochoerus in the family of real pigs (Suidae). As the name suggests, the animals are the largest representatives of the real pigs. Their head-torso length ranges from 130 to 210 cm, with a shoulder height of 75 to 110 cm. Their weight varies from 130 to 270 kg. The long and rough fur is black in color and often falls out in the old animals. Their large head with large proboscis and pronounced cheek bulges are striking, especially in the boar. Their canines are strong, but not as long as the warthog.
Chimpanzees
Full-bearded monkeys , eastern The eastern full-bearded monkey (Allochrocebus ihoeshi) belongs to the tribe (Cercopithecinae) in the family (Cercopithecidae). These diurnal and ground-living monkeys reach a head-trunk length between 45 to 60 cm. The animals are black and gray in color with a dark face with the eponymous whitish facial hair.
Forest elephants
Waterbuck
The genus of the waterbuck (Kobus) is divided into two types. These are the elliptical waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus) and the Defassa waterbuck (Kobus defassa). The elliptical waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus) occurs in Uganda. This antelope is a large, strong and up to 270 kg heavy antelope with shaggy, gray-brown fur and a white ring around the base of the tail – the eponymous ellipse. The face is also partially white, and a white streak runs from the throat to the base of the ears. Only the males have long, strongly curled and forward horns. The shoulder height is 1.30 m. This antelope species needs permanent bodies of water in the vicinity of which there are forests, open grassy areas and areas overgrown with thickets and reeds
Zebras
Reptiles
African house snake
The African house snake (Boaedon fuliginosus) – also known as the brown house snake – is a non-poisonous snake with an average length of 95 cm.
African spitting cobra (Naja nigricollis)
Ashe`s spitting cobra
The Ashe`s spitting cobra (Naja ashei) is the longest spitting cobra worldwide with a length of up to 2.70 m. In addition, this aggressive snake injects an extremely high amount of venom with one bite
Boomslang (Dipholidus typus)
Christy’s water cobra
Christy’s water cobra (Naja christyi) is also known as the Congolese water cobra. The snake reaches an average length of about 1.50 m (with the tail) – rarely more. They can be found in or near bodies of water, in bushy or wooded lowland areas along lakes, rivers and streams.
Rock python (Python sebae)
Gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica)
Striped house snake
The striped house snake (Boaedon lineatus) is a non-poisonous snake with a length of m
Common puff adder (Bitis arietans)
Günther’s Green Tree
Snake The Günther’s Green Tree Snake (Dipsadoboa unicolor) is a non-toxic snake between 70 and 110 cm long, they are rarely larger. They are evenly green-blue on the top and yellowish on the belly.
Jamesons mamba
As a rule, the very poisonous Jamesons mamba (Dendroaspis jamesoni) grows to around 2 m long – in rare cases over 3 m. She is slim and very agile. They are green-yellow to grass-green in color, while the throat, belly and temples are lemon-yellow. Lighter and darker spots form indistinct, backward running transverse bands.
The Jamesons Mamba is tree and ground dwelling. They are mainly found in rainforests and in humid and warm forests on river banks. But they can also be found near human settlements, on farmlands, and in urban parks.
Ball python (Python regius)
Olive house snake
The olive house snake (Boaedon olivaceus) is a non-poisonous mostly green to dark olive colored snake. The males reach a size of 60 to 80 cm and the females 80 to 100 cm. The snake lives in grass, savannah and cultural landscapes and as a cultural follower under stones and wood as well as in garbage heaps, holes in the ground and termite mounds.
Radford’s house snake
The approx. 80 cm long and non-poisonous Radford’s house snake (Boaedon radfordi) occurs only in the southwest of Uganda.
Black-tailed tree snake
The black-tailed tree snake (Dipsadoboa weileri) is a non-poisonous snake between 70 and 95 cm long
Black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis)
Black and white cobra ( Naja melanoleuca)
Rhinoceros viper (Bitis nasicornis)
Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus):
Common crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis (
Uraeus snake (well, well)
Birds
In addition to many other birds, the following are particularly noteworthy:
hornbills, helmeted guinea fowl, cormorants, crowned cranes (= Uganda’s heraldic animal), Egyptian geese, pelicans, herons, weaver birds and the rare shoebill stork.
Uganda: plants
In Uganda the East African savannah merges into the Central African rainforest. Unfortunately, only about 7% of the country is covered by rainforest – and the trend is decreasing. A relatively unspoilt area of jungle can still be found in the Budongo Forest.
One can find eucalyptus trees, papyrus trees, lobelia and, increasingly, sugar cane and oil palms in the country.
Water lilies and hyacinths grow in Lake Victoria – not necessarily to the delight of the local people.
