From rural rebellions to urban riots: political competition and changing patterns of violent political revolt in Uganda

Abstract

Violent political revolt has been common in independent Uganda. For a long time, such revolts were exclusively expressed as rural-based rebel groups fighting the government. Since the mid-2000s, however, this seems to have come to an end. Instead, urban riots, very rare in the past, have become much more common. This article analyses these changing patterns of types and location of violent political revolt in Uganda under the National Resistance Movement government. It argues that the earlier prevalence of rural rebellions can be explained by the combination of a coercive and militarised state, and weak and ethnically factionalised political forces who took their violent resistance to rural regional bases. Over time, however, government counter-insurgency became more effective and the conditions for insurgency were undermined by withdrawal of external support. Furthermore, the reintroduction of multi-party politics in 2005 opened up new avenues for political expression. The changes to the political system were, however, more nominal than real in many respects. While the rebel option had become less attractive and feasible, a series of social, economic and political grievances remained which were only partly channelled through party politics. They also found expression through sporadic urban violent revolt.

Keywords:

• rebellions
• riots
• political revolt
• urban–rural politics
• Uganda

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Mats Utas for comments on an earlier version of this text, and the anonymous reviewer for insightful comments on the manuscript. All errors are our own.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Anders Sjögren http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1520-4191

Notes

1. By this we do not mean urban-based long-standing insurgencies or civil wars – a relatively uncommon feature anywhere (see Staniland, 2010) – but urban riots and other forms of violent political protest.

2. In this article, we focus on one aspect of urban violence: expressions of relatively large-scale violent political revolt or protest. For other aspects of urban violence in Kampala, see Goodfellow (2013).

3. On guerrilla movements in Africa, see Bøås and Dunn (2007), Clapham (1998) and Reno (1998).

4. For a survey of the topic, see Luckham (1994).

5. The conflict ended in Uganda, but shifted to other countries in the region (DR Congo, Central African Republic and the Sudan). The precise geographical pattern has depended on how the LRA has changed base between these countries.

6. The other rebel movements were Force Obote Back Again (FOBA) and the Ninth October Movement.

7. For instance, West Nile Bank Front (WNBF) and UNRF II.

8. The role of the diaspora in supporting or coordinating rebellions falls outside the scope of this article, but see Golooba-Mutebi (2008) and Prunier (2004).

9. While the ADF and LRA are still active, they are now operating beyond Uganda's borders with diminished capacity for conducting cross-border incursions.

10. There has been a stream of media reports over the years, quoting officials on both sides trading accusations and counter-accusations, and reports by international actors pointing to each country supporting insurgents against the other. See for example AFP (2014), Amin (2013), Butagira (2012) and Sserunjogi (2016).

11. Under colonial rule, urban mass protests were part of the struggles for independence and riots occurred occasionally. See Jørgensen (1981, pp. 181–187).

12. For details around the Mabira Forest case, see Child (2009) and Hönig (2014).

13. For details on the Buganda riots, see Goodfellow and Lindemann (2013).

14. For a more extensive discussion on Walk to work, see Goodfellow (2013).