Government of Uganda

The first European to set foot in what is presently considered Uganda was Giovani Miani. Between 1849 and 1855, many German missionaries sent reports back to Europe of great lakes and snowy mountains a few weeks" journey inland from the coast, and word began to spread about Uganda. In the year 1894, Uganda was officially named a British Protectorate and it was not until October 9, 1962, that Uganda gained its independence from Britain and became a self-sustaining nation.1.
             In 1971, President Obote was dealing with many problems in the nation, including the uniting of Uganda. Because of this, head of Uganda's military, Idi Amin Dada, set forth a coup d'etat and was successful in his attempt. Now controlling the government, Amin instituted an advisory defense council composed of military commanders, placed military tribunals above the system of civil law, appointed soldiers to top government posts, and even informed the newly inducted civilian cabinet ministers that they would be subject to military discipline. Amin also set up a form of ethnic cleansing by expelling nearly all of the 50,000 Asians in Uganda and seizing their property to be controlled by the military, not benefiting the "common man" as had been suggested. In an effort to gain support from Libya and Saudi Arabia, Amin began to pay more attention to the formerly deprived Muslims of Uganda. Amin viewed the Christian churches in Uganda as possible centers for opposition to his regime, and many priests and ministers disappeared during the course of the 1970s. 1978 brought what would seem to be the end of Amin's reign in Uganda, as those closest to him began to dwindle in numbers due to defections and executions. After an attack on Tanzania in late 1978, the Tanzanian President Nyerere mobilized his citizen army reserves and counterattacked, joined by Ugandan exiles united as the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA).