Uganda gains independence from Britain
On this day · 9 October 1962
On 9 October 1962, the East African protectorate of Uganda ended nearly seven decades of British rule and became a sovereign nation within the Commonwealth.
On 9 October 1962, Uganda formally ended British rule and became an independent state. The handover was set in law by the British Parliament’s Uganda Independence Act 1962, which named “the ninth day of October, nineteen hundred and sixty-two” as the appointed day from which the United Kingdom would have no further responsibility for the territory’s government.
The land had been governed as the Uganda Protectorate since 1894, drawing together the powerful kingdom of Buganda and neighbouring regions under British oversight. Unlike many decolonisation struggles, Uganda’s path was largely negotiated rather than fought, though it was strained by rivalries between Buganda and the centre.
From the appointed day, Britain had no responsibility for the government of Uganda.
Milton Obote became the country’s first prime minister. Queen Elizabeth II remained nominal head of state until 9 October 1963, when Uganda became a republic and the Kabaka of Buganda, Sir Edward Mutesa II, took office as its first president. The United States recognised the new nation the same day independence took effect.
Sources & references
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