Reinventing Uganda – The Uganda Past and Future team

Mak Press — Sat, 04 Oct 2025 11:56:18 +0000

In April 1979, as Idi Amin’s government crumbled in the face of the Tanzanian military advance, a moment of opportunity opened. After years of dictatorship and terrifying violence, Ugandans had the opportunity to start again. This book attempts to do justice to the multiple ways in which they imagined their future at the time, before the tragic end to these turbulent months—Milton Obote’s fraudulent election and the start of the civil war. For the first time in many years, men and – to a lesser extent – women were able to ask critical questions about what it might mean to be Ugandan, how state and society should be organised, about who should hold authority—and in the name of what. This was a time of fear and economic deprivation, in an international context largely defined by the Cold War and the emergence of neoliberalism. But it was also a time of hope, and of the flourishing of political imagination that would nurture the public debate for many years to come.

(Mis)Management of Sub-Nationalism and Diversity in “NATIONS” : The Case of Buganda in Uganda, 1897-1980

Mak Press — Sat, 05 Dec 2020 09:03:33 +0000

The book revisits the complexity of the “modern nation” building project of African countries like Uganda, over pre-existing entities like Buganda. Through discourse analysis, the work historically unravels the intricate interlaces of self-preservation agency from the dawn of the new order through the supra “nationhood” architecture. It engages dominant narratives and streamlines critical analysis of the rationale and strategies of sub-nationalisms against the enduring challenge of nation-building. The work underlines the pivotal question of how a new ‘nation’ or kingdom could coexist with multiple, alternative claims to the loyalty of putative citizens. It interrogates the use of power, players and statecraft machinations through the complex matrix of nation-building projects. From a political economy approach, the work shows the stifling strategies of power holders, albeit with impactful re-battle. For this book, the story of Buganda in Uganda is compellingly illuminative

Classic Ancient History – Makerere University Press

Reinventing Uganda – The Uganda Past and Future team

(Mis)Management of Sub-Nationalism and Diversity in “NATIONS” : The Case of Buganda in Uganda, 1897-1980