Milton Obote in the context of Lango people

Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The southern part includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, shared with Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda is in the African Great Lakes region, lies within the Nile basin, and has a varied equatorial climate. As of 2024 it had a population of 49.3 million, of whom 8.5 million lived in the capital and largest city, Kampala.

Uganda is named after the Buganda kingdom, which encompasses a large portion of the south, including Kampala, and whose language Luganda is widely spoken; the official language is English. The region was populated by people of various ethnicities before Bantu and Nilotic groups arrived around 3,000 years ago. These new inhabitants established influential kingdoms such as the Empire of Kitara. The arrival of Arab traders in the 1830s and British explorers in the late 19th century marked the beginning of foreign influence. The British established the Protectorate of Uganda in 1894, setting the stage for future political dynamics. Uganda gained independence in 1962, with Milton Obote as the first prime minister. The 1966 Mengo Crisis marked a significant conflict with the Buganda kingdom, as well as the country's conversion from a parliamentary system to a presidential system. Idi Amin's military coup in 1971 led to a brutal regime characterised by mass killings and economic decline, until his overthrow in 1979.

The Buganda Crisis, also called the 1966 Mengo Crisis, the Kabaka Crisis, or the 1966 Crisis, domestically, was a period of political turmoil that occurred in Buganda. It was driven by conflict between Prime Minister Milton Obote and the Kabaka of Buganda, Mutesa II, culminating in a military assault upon the latter's residence that drove him into exile.

Idi Amin Dada Oumee (30 May 1928 – 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 until his overthrow in 1979. An admirer of Adolf Hitler, he ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern world history. He is often called "Hitler of Africa" and his ideology draws similarity to National Socialism.

Amin was born to a Kakwa father and Lugbara mother. In 1946, he joined the King's African Rifles (KAR) of the British Colonial Army as a cook. He rose to the rank of lieutenant, taking part in British actions against Somali rebels and then the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya. Uganda gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1962, and Amin remained in the army, rising to the position of deputy army commander in 1964 and being appointed commander two years later. He became aware that Ugandan president Milton Obote was planning to arrest him for misappropriating army funds, so he launched the 1971 Ugandan coup d'état and declared himself president.

Makerere University (/məˈkɛrəri/; Mak also MUK) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922, and the oldest currently active university in East Africa. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of nine colleges and one school, offering programmes for about 36,000 undergraduates and 4,000 postgraduates. These colleges include College of Natural Sciences (CONAS), College of Health Sciences (CHS), College of Engineering Art & Design (CEDAT), College of Agriculture and Environmental Studies (CAES), College Of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS), College of Humanities & Social Sciences (CHUSS), College of Computing and Information Sciences (COCIS), College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources & Bio-security (COVAB), College of Education and External Studies (CEES) and Makerere University Business School (MUBS). In addition, Makerere has another campus in Jinja City, Eastern Uganda.

Makerere University is the alma mater of many post-independence African leaders, including Ugandan president Milton Obote and Tanzanian presidents Julius Nyerere and Benjamin Mkapa. The former president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila, and former Kenyan president the late Mwai Kibaki are also Makerere alumni.

The Uganda People's Congress (UPC; Swahili: Congress ya Watu wa Uganda) is a political party in Uganda.

UPC was founded in 1960 by Milton Obote, who led the country to independence alongside UPC member of parliament A.G. Mehta. Obote later served two presidential terms under the party's banner. Obote was still the party head when he died in October 2005, although he had previously announced his intention to step down.

Sir Edward Frederick William David Walugembe Mutebi Luwangula Mutesa II KBE (19 November 1924 – 21 November 1969) was a Ugandan royal and statesman who served as the first president of Uganda from 1962 to 1966, when he was overthrown by Milton Obote. Mutesa was also the Kabaka (King) of the traditional kingdom of Buganda in Uganda from 22 November 1939 until his death in 1969.

He was often referred as King Freddie by the foreign press, a name rarely used in Uganda. Mutesa's defence of Bagandan interests and traditional autonomy led to conflicts with his erstwhile political ally Milton Obote, who would eventually overthrow him.

The Gold Scandal of 1965 was a significant political scandal in Uganda that played a key role in the lead up to the Mengo Crisis of 1966. The scandal centered on allegations of illegal profiteering from gold, ivory, and cash originating from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Accusations were made against Prime Minister Milton Obote, Colonel Idi Amin, and other high-ranking government officials. The accusations, brought forth by Member of Parliament Daudi Ochieng, alleged that these officials had illicitly benefited from transactions related to covert aid supplied to Congolese rebel leaders. The scandal involved accusations of large sums of money being deposited into personal accounts, and it deeply destabilized the political climate in Uganda, contributing to the subsequent political turmoil.

The Move to the Left was a policy direction undertaken in Uganda, most notably under President Milton Obote in the period 1968–1971. Despite nominally being a move towards socialism, it also had strong nationalist overtones.