A CHRONOLOGY OF KEY EVENTS IN UGANDA’S HISTORY

By John Nazareth in Toronto Canada 1500 - Bito dynasties of Buganda, Bunyoro and Ankole founded by Nilotic-speaking immigrants from present-day southeastern Sudan. 1700 - Buganda begins to expand at the expense of Bunyoro. 1800 - Buganda controls territory bordering Lake Victoria from the Victoria Nile to the Kagera river. 1840s - Muslim traders from the Indian Ocean coast exchange firearms, cloth and beads for the ivory and slaves of Buganda. 1862 - British explorer John Hanning Speke becomes the first European to visit Buganda. 1875 - Bugandan King Mutesa I allows Christian missionaries to enter his realm. British influence 1877 - Members of the British Missionary Society arrive in Buganda. 1879 - Members of the French Roman Catholic White Fathers arrive. 1890 - Britain and Germany sign treaty giving Britain rights to what was to become Uganda. 1892 - Imperial British East Africa Company agent Frederick Lugard extends the company's control to southern Uganda and helps the Protestant missionaries to prevail over their Catholic counterparts in Buganda. 1894 - Uganda becomes a British protectorate. 1900 - Britain signs agreement with Buganda giving it autonomy and turning it into a constitutional monarchy controlled mainly by Protestant chiefs. 1902 - The Eastern province of Uganda transferred to the Kenya. 1904 - Commercial cultivation of cotton begins. 1921 - Uganda given a legislative council, but its first African member not admitted till 1945. 1958 - Uganda given internal self-government. Elections held in 1961 - Benedicto Kiwanuka elected Chief Minister. 1962 - Uganda becomes independent with Milton Obote as prime minister and with Buganda enjoying considerable autonomy. 1963 - Uganda becomes a republic with Buganda's King Mutesa II as president. 1966 - Milton Obote ends Buganda's autonomy and promotes himself to the presidency. 1967 - New constitution vests considerable power in the president. 1971 - Milton Obote toppled in coup led by Army chief Idi Amin. 1972 – Amin expels Israelis giving them 2 weeks to leave. 1972 - Amin orders Asians who were not Ugandan citizens - around 60,000 people - to leave the country in 3 months. 1972-73 - Uganda engages in border clashes with Tanzania. 1976 - Idi Amin declares himself President of Uganda for life and claims parts of Kenya. 1978 - Uganda invades Tanzania with a view to annexing Kagera region. 1979 - Tanzania invades Uganda, unifying the various anti-Amin forces under the Uganda National Liberation Front and forcing Amin to flee the country; Yusufu Lule installed as president, but is quickly replaced by Godfrey Binaisa. 1980 - Binaisa overthrown by the army. 1980 - Milton Obote becomes President after elections. 1981-86 Following the bitterly disputed elections, Ugandan bush war fought by National Resistance Army 1985 - Obote deposed in military coup and is replaced by Tito Okello. 1986 - National Resistance Army rebels take Kampala and install Yoweri Museveni as President. 1993 - Museveni restores the traditional kings, including the king of Buganda, but without political power. 1995 - New constitution legalizes political parties but maintains the ban on political activity. 1996 - Museveni returned to office in Uganda's first direct presidential election. 2000 - Ugandans vote to reject multi-party politics in favour of continuing Museveni's "no-party" system. 2001 January - East African Community (EAC) re-inaugurated in Arusha, Tanzania, laying groundwork for common East African passport, flag, economic and monetary integration. Members are Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. 2001 March - Museveni wins another term in office, beating his rival Kizza Besigye by 69% to 28%. Campaign against rebels 2002 October - Army evacuates more than 400,000 civilians caught up in fight against cult-like LRA which continues its brutal attacks on villages. 2003 May - Uganda pulls out last of its troops from eastern DR Congo. Tens of thousands of DR Congo civilians seek asylum in Uganda. 2004 December - Government and LRA rebels hold their first face-to-face talks, but there is no breakthrough in ending the insurgency. 2005 July - Parliament approves a constitutional amendment which scraps Presidential term limits. Voters in a referendum overwhelmingly back a return to multi-party politics. 2005 October - International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for five LRA commanders, including leader Joseph Kony. 2006 February - President Museveni wins multi-party elections, taking 59% of the vote against the 37% share of his rival, Kizza Besigye. 2006 August - The government and the LRA sign a truce aimed at ending their long-running conflict. Subsequent peace talks are marred by regular walk-outs. 2007 March - Ugandan peacekeepers deploy in Somalia as part of an African Union mission to help stabilise the country. 2008 February - Government and the Lord's Resistance Army sign what is meant to be a permanent ceasefire at talks in Juba, Sudan. 2008 November - The leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, Joseph Kony, again fails to turn up for the signing of a peace agreement. Ugandan, South Sudanese and DR Congo armies launch offensive against LRA bases. 2009 The UK oil explorer Heritage Oil says it has made a major oil find in Uganda. 2009 March - Ugandan army begins to withdraw from DR Congo, where it had pursued Lord's Resistance Army rebels. 2009 December - Parliament votes to ban female circumcision. Anyone convicted of the practice will face 10 years in jail or a life sentence if a victim dies. 2010 January - President Museveni distances himself from the anti-homosexuality Bill, saying the ruling party MP who proposed the bill did so as an individual. The European Union and United States had condemned the bill. 2010 July - Two bomb attacks on people watching World Cup final at a restaurant and a rugby club in Kampala kill at least 74 people. The Somali Islamist group Al-Shabab says it was behind the blasts. 2011 February - Museveni wins his fourth Presidential election. 2011 July - US deploys special forces personnel to help Uganda combat LRA rebels. 2012 Aug – Uganda’s Stephen Kiprotich win’s the Gold Medal in Marathon at the Olympics – Uganda’s second Gold medal ever, and third Olympic medal since joining the Olympics.