ABSTRACT
The freedom struggle in Uganda was characterized by intense political differences over several issues, particularly the role of Buganda in a future state. Before full independence in October 1962, Uganda went to the polls in April 1962 to elect members to the National Assembly. Ugandans had to suffer the Amin tyranny for eight years before help arrived. Uganda went to the polls in December 1980, and Milton Obote of the Ugandan Peoples Congress returned as president amid complaints of large-scale rigging of the elections. The evolution of the political system in Uganda reflects the stresses and strains which democracy as a system of governance had to confront in the African continent as a whole. At the time of the guerrilla war during the period 1981–6, village committees known as Resistance Councils had been set up by the local people to manage the affairs of the liberated areas. Drawing on this, the Museveni government introduced an intricate structure of Resistance Councils.
