Ethnicity, state power and the democratisation process in Uganda

Abstract

One of the post-independence political concerns in Uganda today is that ethnicity has been detrimental to national unity, democracy and development. There is no doubt that the conflicts in Uganda have all had ethnicity as one of the driving factors. The central problem has been the politisation of ethnicity, that is, its use for purposes of group mobilisation in social conflicts that also involve the state. However, ethnicity cannot be taken as a given. The problem is not of ethnicity in itself. Ethnicity is more intimately linked to political and economic conditions such as the unequal distribution of and competition for power and wealth. This paper critically review the impact of ethnicity on the democratisation process in Uganda from colonialism to the present. The paper is divided into four parts. Part one is a theoretical overview of the issues of ethnicity and democratisation. Part two examines the nature of ethnicity construction and expression in the colonial period. Part three looks at the post-colonial political practices and their enhancement of ethnicity in Uganda. Part four discusses the possibility of deconstruction of ethnicity through democratisation and the 'no-party movement'-system. In conclusion, the contention is that there is a need to understand the substantive underlying political, economic and social configurations that enhance ethnicity rather than denouncing them.

CONTENTS -- Ethnicity and Democratisation: A Theoretical Overview -- Explaining ethnicity -- Democratisation -- Ethnicity Construction in Uganda: Historical Perspectives -- Colonial intervention and the making of ethnicity -- Post-colonial practices and the reproduction of ethnicity -- The assumption of the nation-state project and ethnicity -- Ethnicity, Militarism and the Rise of an Ethnically Organised State -- Bureaucratic reforms and enhancement of ethnicity -- Militarism and enhancement of ethnicity in the 1960s -- The period of military dictatorship, 1971-79 -- 1980 elections, ethnicity militarism and civil war, 1981-85 -- NRM Politics, Constitutionalism and the Consolidation of Power -- Constituency Assembly (CA) elections, debates and suppression of the opposition -- "No-party" democracy, ethnicity and regionalism -- Civil war, militarism and enhancement of ethnicity -- The International Community and the Democratisation Process in Uganda