Uganda takes its name from the Buganda kingdom, which encompasses a large portion of the south of the country, including the capital Kampala. The people of Uganda were hunter-gatherers until 1,700 to 2,300 years ago, when Bantu-speaking populations migrated to the southern parts of the country.
Beginning in 1894, the area was ruled as a protectorate by the UK, who established administrative law across the territory. Uganda gained independence from the UK on 9 October 1962. The period since then has been marked by violent conflicts, including an eight-year-long far-right military dictatorship led by Idi Amin. Additionally, a lengthy civil war against the Lord’s Resistance Army in the Northern Region led by Joseph Kony, has caused hundreds of thousands of casualties.
The official languages are English and Swahili, although “any other language may be used as a medium of instruction in schools or other educational institutions or for legislative, administrative or judicial purposes as may be prescribed by law.”Luganda, a central language, is widely spoken across the country, and several other languages are also spoken, including Lango, Acholi, Runyoro, Runyankole, Rukiga, Luo and Lusoga.
The current president of Uganda is Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, who came to power in January 1986 after a protracted six-year guerrilla war. Following constitutional amendments that removed term limits for the president, he was able to stand and was elected president of Uganda in the 2011 and in the 2016 general elections.
The Turkish Embassy in Kampala and the Uganda Embassy in Ankara were opened on 21 April 2010 and July 2013 respectively.
Relations between Turkey and Uganda are developing steadily as a result high level visits between the two countries and the willingness of both countries to work together.
Uganda
H.E President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Uganda on May 31 – June 1, 2016. This visit was the first Presidential visit to Uganda from Turkey and served to bolster the ties between the two countries.
H.E. Michael Werikhe Kafabusa, State Minister for Trade of Uganda, participated the Turkey-Africa Economy and Business Forum, held in İstanbul on 2-3 November 2016.
Turkey’s bilateral trade volume with Uganda reached 40million USD in 2018, which was 32,2 million Dollars in 2017.
Second Turkish-Ugandan Joint Economic Commission meeting was held in Ankara on 17-18 September 2013.
Turkish Airlines (THY) operates a daily flight, on İstanbul-Kigali-Entebbe-İstanbul route.
Turkey provides undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate scholarships every year to students from Uganda willing to continue their higher education in Turkey. In this context, Turkey provided 53 scholarships in 2018 and 325 since 1992.
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