Government
Museveni faced considerable challenges - the economy and much of the infrastructure had been destroyed, up to one million people were dead and up to two million refugees. He has sought to promote reconciliation - the NRA was renamed the National Reconciliation Movement (NRM) and he has included conservative figures in his government. In addition to the President who is both chief of state and head of government, there is a Vice-President, a Prime Minister and 303 National Assembly members, of whom 214 are directly elected by popular vote and 81 nominated by legally established special interest groups - women, the army, youth and labour. Other political parties are allowed to exist (there are about 5 main ones) but they cannot field candidates, so government is effectively one-party, or ‘no party’ as the NRM is said to be a mass organization which claims all Ugandans’ loyalty.

Presidential, parliamentary and local elections were held in 1996 and again in 2001; the term of office is five years. A referendum held in 2001 to decide the retention of ‘Movement’ system resulted in a vote in favour of keeping it, but turn-out was low and there were criticisms that the views of the organization supporting a multi-party system were not allowed to be fully expressed. Museveni has said he will stand down in 2006, when elections are due again, but it remains to be seen whether he will do so if defeated. The media (press, TV and radio) , and the judiciary are remarkably free from government control. Attempts have been made to tackle corruption and a Human Rights Commission has been set up.

There are still pockets of armed resistance, most notably from the Lord’s Resistance Army whose activities in northern Uganda have resulted in people moving into ‘protected villages’, and which has conducted massacres in and burning of villages, and the abduction of at least 20,000 children The LRA’s original quasi-religious ideology has now largely been discarded, and it indulges in killing, maiming and looting the Acholi people which it initially set out to liberate. It received support from the Sudanese Government, because Uganda supported the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army. In 1999 both countries agreed not to support the other’s insurgents, and 2002 they signed a protocol which allowed the Ugandan Army to take military action against the LRA in southern Sudan. The Ugandan Army 'Operation Iron Fist' has had some success against the LRA, and attempts to set up a peace process were initiated - but the LRA leader failed to turn up. Parts of northern Uganda are highly dangerous to travel around safely and up to 1.6 million people live in refugee camps  because of the continuing violence and instability.

Health
The Ugandan public health system is inadequate, with only 49% of people living within 5 kilometres of a health facility. There are 98 hospitals for the whole country, of which 55 are state run and the rest by private foundations, generally religious or charitable. Health provision was affected by the conflicts of the 1970s and 1980s, so many facilities are in need of refurbishment, and assistance has been provided by both the Ugandan government and foreign donors to improve them, from primary level upwards. Diseases such as typhoid, hepatitis, bilharzia and malaria are endemic; most people cannot afford nets to prevent or drugs to control the latter. Childhood immunization rates are low, and poor nutrition is also a health issue, with an acute malnutrition rate of 5%; the dietary staple is maize meal (posho) or steamed plantain (matoke), neither of which are very nutritious but act as fillers to accompany chicken or goat meat.

In September 2004 the government set up a commission to examine the integration of traditional medicine into the health system. This kind of medicine would be more accessible (there is one healer per 150 people compared to one doctor per 18,000 people) and cheaper, though some practices would need to be regulated against because they would be dangerous.

Life expectancy for men is 50 years and for women 52 - in Britain, the rates are 75 and 80 years respectively. The infant mortality rate is 97 per thousand births - in Britain it is 5.67 ; about 63 % of the total population have access to clean water and 53% to sanitation - in urban areas the figures are 43% and 63% and in rural areas 30% and 28% respectively.

AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is also a major challenge, affecting about 14% of the adult population, and it has clearly impacted on life expectancy rates. The government has, however, run vigorous and explicit campaigns to raise awareness, to encourage changes in sexual behaviour, and to promote condom use. Although more recently a heavier emphasis has been placed on abstinence, the official attitude to AIDS contrasts strongly with that in other African countries, and there is some evidence the disease is in decline in the 15-19 year old age group. AIDS also presents social policy challenges because of the large numbers of orphans who lack parents or relatives to care for them.

 

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