ABSTRACT
Traditional religions declined in the wake of Christianity and Islam more rapidly then in many other African nations, and at least 70 percent of the population is either Christian or Muslim. Religion has been a potential force for the integration of Ugandan society in the sense that the membership of each major religious group cuts across all ethnic boundaries in a nation where ethnic fragmentation and conflict are extremely important. The traditional religion of Buganda had become increasingly salient politically during the period of centralization because the traditional religious hierarchy of priests and mediums, allied with clan leaders, had remained the only substantial obstacle to the establishment of the full supremacy of the Kabaka and his appointees over the entire populace. The linkage between religion and politics during the colonial period in Uganda can be seen as having shaped that system in ways which help to explain more recent developments.
