Uganda: Current Conditions and the Crisis in North Uganda

Ted Dagne
Specialist in African Affairs

In February 2006, Ugandans voted in the first multi-party elections in almost 26 years. President Yoweri Museveni and his ruling National Revolutionary Movement (NRM) parliamentary candidates won a decisive victory over opposition candidate Kizza Besigye and the Forum for Democracy Coalition. Nevertheless, poll results showed a notable decline in support for President Museveni from previous elections. International election observers did not condemn the election results, nor did they fully endorse the electoral process. Critics charged the government with intimidating the opposition during the pre-election period, and Besigye spent much of the campaign period in jail. The election followed a controversial move by the Ugandan parliament in July 2005 to remove the constitutional two-term limit on the presidency. 

In the north, the government of Uganda has long fought the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), an armed rebel group backed by the government of Sudan. Through over 20 years of civil war, the brutal insurgency has created a humanitarian crisis that has displaced over 1.5 million people and resulted in the abduction of over 20,000 children. In 2006-2007, the government of Uganda and the LRA were engaged in an effort to resolve the conflict peacefully. The Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) mediated the talks. In August 2006, the government of Uganda and the LRA signed a Cessation of Hostilities Agreement. In February 2008, the parties agreed on a Permanent Ceasefire and amended the Agreement on Accountability and Reconciliation and Agreement on Comprehensive Solutions. However, the leader of the LRA, Joseph Kony, failed to show up for the final signing of the agreement on a number of occasions. Kony and his forces are in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, and Sudan. 

The cessation of hostilities has allowed an estimated 1.4 million people to return to their homes. In June 2007, the parties signed an agreement on Accountability and Reconciliation. In late October, an LRA delegation went to Kampala for the first time and held talks with senior Ugandan officials. In October, Vincent Otti, the Deputy Commander of the LRA, reportedly was killed in Uganda by Joseph Kony, the head of the LRA. Over the past two years, a number of senior LRA commanders have been killed or surrendered to authorities. In December 2009, the Deputy Commander of the LRA, Bok Abudema, was killed by Ugandan forces in Central African Republic. 

In late October 2007, President Museveni visited Washington, DC, and met with President Bush and other senior administration officials. President Museveni also met with several Members of Congress. During his visit, President Museveni discussed a wide range of issues, including U.S.- Uganda relations, the crises in Somalia and Darfur, trade, and HIV/AIDS. Uganda deployed an estimated 2,700 peacekeeping troops to Somalia, shortly after Ethiopian forces invaded Mogadishu and installed the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). Ugandan forces have not been a major target of the insurgents at the beginning of the peacekeeping operation. As of December 2009, an estimated 22 members of the Ugandan peacekeeping forces have been killed.


Date of Report: May 19, 2010
Number of Pages: 37
Order Number: RL33701
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