John Nicotra Page 1

Mr Fronk

World Geography

September 7, 2016

Correcting the Borders of Africa

Part One

The colony that was chosen for my project was Uganda. When the colony was first

created it was mixed with different linguistic groups. There is the Bantu-speaking majority who

live in the central, southern, and western parts of the colony and non-Bantu speakers who occupy

the eastern and northern parts of the land. Before the European colonization the land was divided

between the kingdom of Buganda (located in central Uganda) and east of it are the smaller

kingdoms of Bunyoro, Nkore, Toro, and the Busoga states. Other peoples that lived in

pre-colonized Uganda were the Iteso, Langi, Acholi, Alur, Karamojong, Jie, Madi, and Lugbara

in the north. Also there are a number of small groups living in the east.
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In 1894 everything for the kingdoms and societies changed when the British empire

invaded and combined their lands into a single colony called Uganda. During the colonization

the British were not genocidal towards the locals, but however they still mixed the ethnic and

linguistic groups together in the new borders which started to create diversity. A decade after

Uganda was colonized the British introduced cotton to the colony and soon it became a prime

export. Also the British had large amounts of coffee and tea grown in the colony. Over the years,

missionaries had provided schools for the Ugandans and so more of them were able to read. In

1920 executive and legislative councils were formed. During WW2 many Ugandans rioted

against their occupants and then Africans began joining the council and by 1950 there up to eight

in them. After WW2 mining was promoted in Uganda, a hydroelectric plant was opened, and

exports were booming. Decades after Uganda was declared a colony it was finally given its

independence on October 9, 1962. Only under a decade later there were already two political

coups and now Uganda’s third leader, Idi Amin, will become one of the most notorious dictators

of the 20th century. During his reign over 100,000 Ugandans were killed by gunshot, torture,

sledgehammer, or iron bars. Amin made threats to Asians living in the nation by forcing to leave

within 90 days and because of the Uganda losses its Asian skill and murders of professional

Ugandans the country entered economic collapse. With this collapse Amin invaded Tanzania

which completely backfired and later Tanzania retaliated by invading Uganda and scattering

Amin’s forces. After that Amin fled in exile to Saudi Arabia where he lived a peaceful life and

passed in 2003. With Amin gone Uganda held elections where the former prime minister/dictator

of Uganda Milton Obote (before Amin) rigged the election and became prime minister once

again. He tried to establish an iron fist across Uganda once again, but his political opponents
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formed a guerilla army to fight against him called the National Resistance Army. Obote tried to

stop this by imprisoning anyone who opposes him, controlling the press, and forcing western

journalists to leave Uganda. As time went on the NRA was finally able to seize the capital and

defeat Obote’s forces. After Obote’s reign Yoweri Museveni was elected and began rebuilding

Uganda’s economy by allowing Asians to return and soon the economy began to prosper.

Eventually political parties were finally allowed once again in 2005. Today Uganda is an

agricultural country and mainy exports coffee and the economy is still prospering today.
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Part 3

The way I corrected the borders imposed by the British Empire was by restoring the

borders to their original state. This was caused from the British invading the kingdoms. This led

to societies having even higher tensions. Since the British favored the Buganda kingdom tensions

rose higher than they were previously. If I had the opportunity to give the British advice it would

be for them to actually teach the Ugandans how to run a country. So what happened was the

British just packed up their stuff and left Uganda to fend for themselves. Britain did show them

how they could build a stable economy. However, they still should have shown Uganda how to

run a stable government. If they would have done that Amin or Obote may have never rose to

power. Most importantly, Britain could have left some of their mining equipment for the

Ugandans and showed them how to use the equipment so Uganda could be a thriving nation.
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Part 4

The notes taken in class can be connected to my research in many ways. First, Britain

showed no regard toward the groups living in the land. Since the British combined these groups

into one territory this increased the already high tensions between them. Secondly, the notes and

research explain how the colonization of Uganda caused its dark history. If the British hadn’t

colonized Uganda, then these ethnic groups wouldn’t have been forced to live together. By

keeping them separate, they may have lived in peace and by their own laws and standards.

Thirdly, the notes and research both state that the British didn’t prepare the Ugandans for

independence. As a result, Uganda was thrown into chaos for the remainder of the 20th century.
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Work Cited

Lambert, By Tim. “A Short History of Uganda.” A Brief History of Uganda. N.p., n.d. Web. 06

Sept. 2016.

“Uganda—Ethnic Groups.” Uganda—Ethnic Groups. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Sept. 2016.