Ugandaportal |
This is a list of the heads of state of Uganda, from the independence of Uganda in 1962 to the present day.
From 1962 to 1963, the head of state under the Constitution of 1962 was the Queen of Uganda, Elizabeth II, who was also the Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. The queen was represented in Uganda by a governor-general. Uganda removed Elizabeth II as head of state under a 1963 constitutional amendment and the monarch and governor-general were replaced by a ceremonial president. The president under the 1963 constitution was an elective monarch, chosen by parliament from among Uganda's 5 traditional Kings. Uganda became a republic within the Commonwealth when this system was replaced by an executive presidency in 1966.
The succession to the throne was the same as the succession to the British throne.
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Reign | Royal house | Prime minister(s) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reign start | Reign end | Duration | |||||
1 | Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022) | 9 October 1962 | 9 October 1963 | 1 year | Windsor | Obote |
The governor-general was the representative of the monarch in Uganda and exercised most of the powers of the monarch. The governor-general was appointed for an indefinite term, serving at the pleasure of the monarch. Since Uganda was granted independence by the Uganda Independence Act 1962, rather than being first established as a semi-autonomous dominion and later promoted to independence as defined by the Statute of Westminster 1931, the governor-general was to be always appointed solely on the advice of the Cabinet of Uganda without the involvement of the British government. As Uganda became a republic before Walter Coutts, the former colonial governor, was replaced, this has never happened. In the event of a vacancy the chief justice would have served as the officer administering the government.
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Monarch | Prime minister(s) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
1 | Walter Coutts (1912–1988) | 9 October 1962 | 9 October 1963 | 1 year | Elizabeth II | Obote |
Under the 1963 Constitution of the Sovereign State of Uganda, the British monarch was replaced as ceremonial head of state by an elective monarch with the title president. The president was elected by the Parliament for a 5-year term from among the kings of Uganda’s 5 kingdoms and constitutional heads of districts. In the event of a vacancy the Vice President served as acting president.
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Reign | Royal house | Prime minister(s) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reign start | Reign end | Duration | |||||
1 | Edward Mutesa II (1924–1969) | 9 October 1963 | 2 March 1966 (Deposed in coup) | 2 years, 144 days | Abalasangeye | Obote |
Under the 1966 "pigeon hole" constitution, the Sovereign State was abolished and replaced by the Republic of Uganda. The presidential office was transformed from a monarchical to an executive republican one. The president and vice-president were elected by the National Assembly. [1] The powers of the president were increased, with the establishment of the executive presidency, but the same rules applied concerning the vacancy of the president. It also applied to the 1967 and 1995 constitutions.
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Elected | Term of office | Political party | Prime minister(s) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||
2 | Milton Obote (1925–2005) | — | 2 March 1966 | 15 April 1966 | 44 days | UPC | Himself | |
15 April 1966 | 25 January 1971 (Deposed in coup) | 4 years, 285 days | Position abolished |
General (later field marshal) Idi Amin led a coup d'état that overthrew President Obote and his government and installed himself as president.
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Military | Prime minister(s) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
3 | Idi Amin (1928–2003) | 25 January 1971 | 11 April 1979 (Deposed by Tanzanian invasion) | 8 years, 76 days | Uganda Army | Position abolished |
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Elected | Term of office | Political party | Prime minister(s) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||
4 | Yusuf Lule (1912–1985) | — | 13 April 1979 | 20 June 1979 (Deposed in a coup) | 68 days | Independent (UNLF) | Position abolished | |
5 | Godfrey Binaisa (1920–2010) | — | 20 June 1979 | 12 May 1980 (Deposed in a coup) | 327 days | UPC (UNLF) | ||
6 | Paulo Muwanga (1924–1991) | — | 12 May 1980 | 22 May 1980 (Resigned) | 10 days | UPC (UNLF) | ||
— | Presidential Commission | — | 22 May 1980 | 15 December 1980 | 207 days | — | ||
(2) | Milton Obote (1925–2005) | 1980 | 17 December 1980 | 27 July 1985 (Deposed in a coup) | 4 years, 222 days | UPC | Allimadi |
General Bazilio Olara-Okello led a coup d'état that overthrew President Obote and his government. Following the coup, Okello proclaimed himself president.
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Military | Prime minister(s) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
7 | General Bazilio Olara-Okello (1929–1990) | 27 July 1985 | 29 July 1985 (Resigned) | 2 days | Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) | Position vacant | |
8 | General Tito Okello (1914–1996) | 29 July 1985 | 26 January 1986 (Deposed in a civil war by NRM) | 181 days | Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) | Muwanga Waligo |
Under the Constitution of Uganda, the president is the executive head of state. The president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term. In the event of a vacancy, the vice president serves as acting president. [2]
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Elected | Term of office | Political party | Prime minister(s) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||
9 | Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (born 1944) | 1996 2001 2006 2011 2016 2021 | 26 January 1986 | Incumbent | 38 years, 121 days | NRM | Kisekka Adyebo Musoke Nsibambi Mbabazi Rugunda Nabbanja |
Apollo Milton Obote was a Ugandan politician who served as the second prime minister of Uganda from 1962 to 1966 and the second president of Uganda from 1966 to 1971 and later from 1980 to 1985.
Bazilio Olara-Okello was a Ugandan military officer and one of the commanders of the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) that together with the Tanzanian army organized the coup d'état that overthrew Idi Amin in 1979. In 1985, he was briefly the chairman of the ruling Military Council and de facto head of state of Uganda, and later, lieutenant-general and chief of the armed forces.
The History of Uganda from 1979 to 1986 comprises the history of Uganda since the end of the dictatorship of Idi Amin. This period has seen the second rule of Milton Obote and the presidency of Yoweri Museveni since 1986, in which Ugandan politics have been dominated by the National Resistance Movement.
The Uganda People's Congress is a political party in Uganda.
The vice president of Nigeria is the second-highest official in the executive branch of the federal government of Nigeria, after the president of Nigeria, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. Officially styled vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the vice president is directly elected together with the president to a four-year term of office.
The Constitution of Uganda is the supreme law of Uganda. The fourth and current constitution was promulgated on 8 October 1995. It sanctions a republican form of government with a powerful President.
Uganda became an independent sovereign state on 9 October 1962. As a Commonwealth realm, the British monarch, Elizabeth II, remained head of state as Queen of Uganda until the link with the British monarchy was severed on 9 October 1963 and the Kabaka (King) of Buganda, Sir Edward Mutesa II, became the first President of Uganda.
Uganda v. Commissioner of Prisons, Ex Parte Michael Matovu, [1966] 1 EA 514, is a decision of the High Court of Uganda in which Hans Kelsen's "General Theory on Law and State" and the Political Question Doctrine were considered in determining the legal validity of Uganda's 1966 Constitution. The 1966 Constitution had come into place following what was by and large, a coup d'état executed by Apollo Milton Obote when he seized all powers of government and suspended Uganda's 1962 Independence Constitution, eventually leading to its abolition.