Ugandan Americans

Ugandan History and Emigration

What is known today as Uganda came into existence because of Anglo-American intervention. Until the late 19th century, that region of East Africa was known as the “Kingdom of Buganda.” Captain John Hanning Speke, a British explorer, and John Morton Stanley, an Anglo-American journalist, were the first Anglos to arrive at the court of Ssekabaka Muteesa I, the King of Buganda, Speke in 1862 and Morton in 1875. What the two had in common was the promotion of British interests in Buganda. In 1892, Captain Frederick Lugard established the authority of the Imperial British East Africa Company in Buganda. Two years later, Great Britain officially made the Kingdom of Buganda a protectorate and changed the name to Uganda.

From late the 1890s to 1918, the British expanded their authority to neighboring areas inhabited by other ethnicities and annexed their territories by negotiating treaties or by applying force. The result was a Uganda created by a colonialist vision of Ugandan society. During World War II, these British colonialist subjects were recruited by the British for military service. The war was an eye-opener to African servicemen, among them Benedict Kiwanuka, of Uganda, who returned from service to work toward the political independence of Uganda. In 1962, he became the first prime minister of a self-governing Uganda, which, on October 9, 1962, achieved total political independence under the prime ministership of Apollo Milton Obote. By 1966, Milton Obote had become president of Uganda, governing with an authoritarianism from which Uganda has not completely recovered to the present day. In 1972, General Idi Amin ousted Obote through a coup d'etat. The resulting destabilization [Page 1340]greatly contributed to the exodus of Ugandans, large numbers of whom sought refuge in the United States.

Immigration Patterns

As a result of colonialism, Uganda had a special relationship with the United Kingdom. Ugandan schools are patterned after the British system of education, and English is the official language. Uganda remains a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Many Ugandans have been educated in the British Isles, and the country tends to turn first to the United Kingdom in international affairs.

After World War II, however, the United States started to catch the attention of Ugandans as a destination for education and cultural activities. During the 1940s, Dr. Ernest Balintuma Kalibbala was admitted to Harvard University, where he studied anthropology, earning a PhD in 1947. Later, many Ugandan students came to the United States in pursuit of education in a variety of fields. On the eve of Uganda's independence, Benedict Kiwanuka (president of the supreme court under General Amin) acquired 300 scholarships for Ugandan students to pursue courses of study that would help them lead their homeland.

Under Kiwanuka, Uganda became one of the African countries that achieved independence without bloodshed, but peace did not continue under subsequent leaders. Obote unleashed violence in Uganda, and the extensive lack of the rule of law under Idi Amin sent Ugandans seeking refuge in different parts of the world. The United States served as a safe haven for many. Whereas Ugandans had previously come to the United States for an education, most of the new immigrants were seeking political asylum. The U.S. immigration system helped many to achieve safety, and others came through the immigration lottery.

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