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52-808: Uganda's Legislative Council (LEGCO) was created by the Colonial Office in 1920 by an Order-in-Council . The LEGCO had its first meeting on Wednesday, 23 March 1921. Its composition then was small and all its members were Europeans. It was made up of the colonial Governor as President, and 4 officials namely: the Chief Secretary, the Attorney General, the Treasurer, and the Principal Medical Officer, plus 2 nominated non-officials who were: H.H. Hunter (a Lawyer from Kampala ), H.E. Lewis (a Manager of

104-726: A Legislative Council in Uganda took a long time. After the declaration of a British Protectorate, it took 27 years before a Legislative Council (LEGCO) was set up in Uganda. It took even longer to admit African members to the LEGCO. The first African members of the LEGCO were admitted in 1945; some 25 years after the LEGCO was set up. The three African representatives who joined the LEGCO were sworn in on Tuesday 4 December 1945; they were: Michael Ernest Kawalya Kaggwa (Katikiro, i.e. Prime Minister of Buganda ), Petero Nyangabyaki (Katikiro of Bunyoro ), and Yekonia Zirabamuzaale (Secretary General of Busoga ). In

156-537: A majority of 7 (32 minus 25). The LEGCO also had at the time 5 nominated women members. On Wednesday 4 February 1959, a Constitutional Committee on self-government for Uganda was set up by the British colonial Governor Sir Frederick Crawford KCMG OBE. The committee was chaired by John Vernon Wild OBE and has since been known as the Wild Committee. The committee was composed of 11 Africans, three Europeans (inclusive of

208-558: A number of ways to redress grievances against Hima overlords, despite their legal inferiority. Iru men could petition the king to end unfair treatment by a Hima patron. Bantu people could not be subjugated to Hima cattle-owners without entering into a patron-client contract. A number of social pressures worked to destroy Hima domination of Ankole. Miscegenation took place despite prohibitions on intermarriage, and children of these unions (abambari) often demanded their rights as cattle owners, leading to feuding and cattle-raiding. From what

260-663: A provision for 5 elected members from Buganda , elections did not take place in Buganda. The Buganda Government and the Lukiiko had advised people in Buganda not to register for elections. There was no representative from Karamoja . There were 6 nominated Europeans and 6 nominated Asians. Thus, the Government side had 32 members while the Representative side had 30 members which included the 5 vacancies for Buganda. The Government effectively had

312-411: A single source of subsistence is impossible; people have to turn, in addition, to other sources of food. In contrast, Himaland, called Kaaro Karungi (the good land) by both its inhabitants and their neighbours, is known for the fertility of its soil, the abundance of its pastures, and its rainfall well spread out both seasonally and perennially. It was pointed out many years ago that ‘Ankole might be called

364-566: A spy on the Banyoro north of Katonga . Murogo and her female descendants were allegedly able to turn themselves into cows and mingle with the cattle herds of the enemy and they worked for the kings for several generation in the Ibanda area Names and Dates taken from John Stewart's African States and Rulers (1989). Nkole people are a Bantu ethnic group native to Uganda . They primarily inhabit Ankole. They are closely related to other Bantu peoples of

416-617: Is located in the South-Western region of Uganda bordering Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo . Ankole is Home to some of the most favorable grazing lands in Africa: The very fact that the Hima can live almost entirely on cattle bespeaks the richness of their homeland among so many arid or semi-arid areas of primitive pastoralism in the world. In those areas reliance on cattle as

468-530: Is present-day Rwanda groups launched repeated attacks against the Hima during the nineteenth century. To counteract these pressures, several Hima warlords recruited Bantu men into their armies to protect the southern borders of Ankole. Banyankore trace their ancestors back to the Bantu and the Bahima subgroup. Aili M. Tripp describes the role of women in the kingdom of Ankole: In Ankole, female chiefs were common at

520-607: Is still edited by Sir W. H. Mercer, K.C.M.G., one of the Crown Agents for the Colonies, but it is printed by Waterlow and Sons, London Wall. It comes as near to being an "Official publication" as possible, but we'll assume that it isn't. Ankole Ankole was a traditional Bantu kingdom in Uganda and lasted from the 15th century until 1967. The kingdom was located in south-western Uganda, east of Lake Edward . The kingdom of Ankole

572-677: The Indian Department was responsible for relations with indigenous nations in North America from 1755 onwards. In 1768 the separate American or Colonial Department was established, in order to deal with colonial affairs in British America . With the loss of thirteen of its colonies , however, the department was abolished in 1782. Responsibility for the remaining colonies was given to the Home Office , and subsequently in 1801 transferred to

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624-743: The British Empire (excepting India , which was administered separately by the East India Company and then the British Raj ) was divided by the War and Colonial Office into the following administrative departments: In 1854, the War and Colonial Office was divided in two, the War Office and a new Colonial Office, created to deal specifically with affairs in the colonies and assigned to the Secretary of State for

676-997: The Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan gained independence in 1947, the Dominion Office was merged with the India Office to form the Commonwealth Relations Office . In 1966, the Commonwealth Relations Office was re-merged with the Colonial Office, forming the Commonwealth Office . Two years later, this department was itself merged into the Foreign Office, establishing the Foreign and Commonwealth Office . The Colonial Office had its offices in

728-759: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office Main Building in Whitehall . From 1862, the Colonial Office published historical and statistical information concerning the United Kingdom's colonial dependencies in The Colonial Office List , though between 1926 and 1940 it was known as The Dominions Office and Colonial Office List . It later became known as the Commonwealth Relations Office Year Book and Commonwealth Office Year Book . In addition to

780-558: The Mugabe or Omugabe . The people of Ankole are called Banyankore (singular: Munyankore) in Runyankole language , a Bantu language . Before the collapse of the Empire of Kitara , Ankole, or as it was known back then, Kaaro-Karungi ‘the good village’, was a small and remote area on the edges of the empire. According to legend, the first (and semi-legendary) king of Ankole, Ruhinda Rwa Njunaki ,

832-581: The War Department . The War Office was renamed the War and Colonial Office in 1801, under a new Secretary of State for War and the Colonies , to reflect the increasing importance of the colonies. In 1825 a new post of Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies was created within this office. It was held by Robert William Hay initially. His successors were James Stephen , Herman Merivale , Frederic Rogers , Robert Herbert and Robert Henry Meade . From 1824,

884-473: The British Government. The process of registering voters started in 1960 when Uganda had constituencies demarcated for the first time. Only 3% of eligible voters in Buganda participated in the process; the Lukiiko had warned all Baganda not to take part in the registration process. On Wednesday 1 March 1961, the first direct elections to the LEGCO were held in Uganda under the procedures recommended by

936-510: The Bunyoro to get back the regalia), killing Wamara and most of the people living there. When Ruhinda returned, he found that only his mother and older brother were alive. He took them and escaped to what was to become Nkore. When he came to the area, he found that it was already ruled and forced the leader to flee and declared himself king, establishing the Kingdom of Karo-Karungi. The original area of

988-630: The Colonies . The Colonial Office did not have responsibility for all British possessions overseas: for example, both the British Raj and other British territories near India, were under the authority of the India Office from 1858. Other, more informal protectorates , such as the Khedivate of Egypt , fell under the authority of the Foreign Office . After 1878, when the Emigration Commission

1040-610: The East Africa Company, which was the successor to the Imperial British East Africa Company ). The intention had been to have 3 non-official members made up of one representative of the planters and ginners, one representative from the business community and one Indian. The Indians wanted a representation in the LEGCO equal to the Europeans. This was refused on the grounds, according to the colonial government at

1092-459: The Government as motions of confidence. (3) The Representative side was composed of 12 African elected members representing various parts of Uganda, except in the case of Ankole where the District Council effectively became an electoral college. Bugisu District Council refused to participate in the elections, hence 1 African member was nominated rather than being elected. Although there was

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1144-438: The Government....are matters on which a very special responsibility lies directly with Her Majesty's Government and cannot be settled here in Uganda.." The LEGCO was the first national legislature in Uganda. By all accounts although it was supposed to be a parliament of some kind, the character of the LEGCO meant that it had no real powers of government since such powers were effectively in the hands of Her Majesty's Government in

1196-807: The Kingdom of Nkore was incorporated into the British Protectorate of Uganda by the signing of the Ankole agreement. The kingdom was formally abolished in 1967 by the government of President Milton Obote , and since then, the kingdom has not been restored officially. Because of the reorganisation of the country by Idi Amin , Ankole no longer exists as an administrative unit. It is divided into ten districts, namely: Bushenyi District , Buhweju District , Mitooma District , Rubirizi District , Sheema District , Ntungamo District , Mbarara District , Kiruhura District , Ibanda District , and Isingiro District . The kingdom of Ankole expanded by annexing territory to

1248-427: The LEGCO consisted of only Europeans between 1921 and 1926. The four official members at this time were all Europeans. The first Indian member of the LEGCO was nominated in 1926 and the second member was appointed in 1933. They were appointed in their personal capacity. Thus the early years of the LEGCO were dominated by a European membership, later a few Indians were added. In 1946 the number of European and Asian members

1300-596: The Legislative Council for non-Africans." The report of the committee was sent to the Governor on Saturday 5 December 1959. The Committee also promised a supplementary report recommending constituency boundaries once the population figures by counties and sub-counties were available. The recommendation of the Wild Committee was that: direct elections should be held in all parts of Uganda, and no option should be offered to hold indirect elections. Another key recommendation

1352-594: The Secretary to the Treasury, (b) 3 Parliamentary Secretaries (all Africans) to the Ministries of Local Government, Education and Labour, and Commerce and Industry,(c) The Government Backbench which was composed of 15 nominated members made up of 10 Africans, 3 Europeans and 2 Asians. The Government Backbench was made up of people of experience who could freely speak and vote as they wished in the LEGCO, except on motions regarded by

1404-660: The UK ministry included a separate Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs . After the Cairo Conference held in March 1921, the Colonial Office was charged for the Palestine Mandate administration in substitution of the Foreign Office . On 16 April 1947, the Irgun placed a bomb at the Colonial Office which failed to detonate. The plot was linked to the 1946 Embassy bombing . After

1456-583: The UK. In effect the LEGCO was a special club with no real importance for a very long time. The powers of the LEGCO were very limited indeed, for example (i) the British Government had the power to disallow any Ordinances passed by the LEGCO; (ii) No Ordinances passed by the LEGCO could conflict with the 1900 Buganda Agreement, (iii) All Ordinances passed by the LEGCO required the assent of the British colonial Governor in Uganda; (iv) The LEGCO did not have any power to rule on constitutional matters, defence policy and foreign affairs; these were all matters reserved for

1508-779: The Wild committee. Two major constitutional conferences were held in London, in October 1961 and June 1962. Following elections on Wednesday 25 April 1962, Uganda gained independence from Britain on Tuesday 9 October 1962. The Legislative Council was replaced by the National Assembly, i.e. the Parliament of Uganda . The First Session of the First Parliament of Uganda was held on Wednesday 10 October 1962. Colonial Office The Colonial Office

1560-513: The army, however, and the prohibition on Iru military training almost eliminated the threat of Iru rebellion. Iru legal inferiority was also symbolized in the legal prohibition against Bantu owning cattle. And, because marriages were legitimized through the exchange of cattle, this prohibition helped reinforce the ban on Hima-Bantu intermarriage. The Iru were also denied highlevel political appointments, although they were often appointed to assist local administrators in Bantu villages. The Bantu had

1612-476: The chairman) and two Asians. The members of the Constitutional Committee were: J.V. Wild (Chairman), A.A. Baerlein, T.B. Bazarrabusa, K. Ingram, H.K. Jaffer, C.B. Katiti, Erisa Kironde, B.K. Kirya, G.B.K. Magezi, B.J. Mukasa, W.W.K. Nadiope, A.M. Obote, Cuthbert Joseph Obwangor , G. Oda, C.K. Patel. The Secretary of the Constitutional Committee was Frank K. Kalimuzo. The strict terms of reference for

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1664-683: The colonial Governor applied to Buganda only if they did not conflict with the terms of the 1900 agreement. The British Government, having declared Buganda a British Protectorate on Monday 18 June 1894, following a mission to Uganda by Sir Gerald Portal as a newly appointed British Special Commissioner in 1892, expanded the Protectorate. Other parts of what is now Uganda were added to the British Protectorate two years later in 1896; these were: Bunyoro , Toro , Ankole and Busoga . Other parts of Uganda were added by treaties. The establishment of

1716-400: The committee were "to consider and to recommend to the Governor the form of direct elections on a common roll for representative members of the Legislative Council to be introduced in 1961, the number of representative seats to be filled under the above system, their allocation among the different areas of the Protectorate and the method of ensuring that there will be adequate representation on

1768-609: The final register were 626,046 and those who actually cast votes were 534,326. The elections were flawed – not everyone participated. The composition of the LEGCO in 1958 was as follows: (1) The Speaker, (2) The Government side was made up of (a) all members of the Executive Council, 3 civil servants who were there to support the ex-officio members (i.e. the Administrative Secretary, the Solicitor General, and

1820-507: The keeper of the royal drum. After a while, Ruhinda fled the capital with some regalia and joined his father in Ntusi. Eventually, Ruhinda left with a group of followers on an expedition to Buzinza and Karagwe , where he, according to some sources, conquered pre-existing agricultural authorities, establishing the Kingdom of Karagwe . While he was gone, Ntusi was raided by invaders (most likely

1872-557: The king (mugabe) to demonstrate their loyalty and to mark life-cycle changes or victories in cattle raiding . This loyalty was often tested by the king's demands for cattle or for military service. In return for homage and military service, a man received protection from the king, both from external enemies and from factional disputes with other cattle owners. The mugabe authorized his most powerful chiefs to recruit and lead armies on his behalf, and these warrior bands were charged with protecting Ankole borders. Only Hima men could serve in

1924-424: The kingdom was a little larger than the modern-day Isingiro District . He then built his capital at Mweruka but later moved it to Rurama where his first son would be born. Eventually, he would entrust the kingdom to his son Nkuba, leaving with a group of followers to return to Karagwe. However, other sources say this was when he actually conquered the area now known as the Kingdom of Karagwe. On 25 October 1901,

1976-475: The lead up to the Napoleonic Wars , which became the War and Colonial Office to oversee and protect the colonies of the British Empire . The Colonial Office was re-created as a separate department 1854, under the colonial secretary . It was finally merged into the Commonwealth Office in 1966. Despite its name, the Colonial Office was responsible for much, but not all, of Britain's Imperial territories;

2028-473: The mid 1950s, the number of seats for Africans were substantially increased, so that by 1954 fifty percent of the membership was African. In January 1958, a Speaker to preside over the Legislative Council was appointed by the colonial Governor. Later on in October that year (1958), the first direct elections of African representative members were held. They were held in only 10 constituencies. These elections were supervised by Mr C.P.S. Allen. The actual figures on

2080-449: The official List published by the Colonial Office, an edited version was also produced by Waterlow and Sons . It can be difficult to distinguish between the two versions in library catalogue descriptions. For example, The Sydney Stock and Station Journal of 3 December 1915 commented: This used to be the "Colonial Office Journal," but it looked – or sounded – too official, so they changed it to "The Colonial Journal." But it

2132-675: The protectorates fell under the purview of the Foreign Office , and the British Presidencies in India were ruled by the East India Company until 1858, when the India Office was formed to oversee the administration of the new Viceroyalty of India (the Crown ruled India directly through a Viceroy after the Indian Rebellion ), while the role of the Colonial Office in the affairs of the Dominions

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2184-399: The ranchland of Uganda containing as it does mile after mile of richest pasture’.15 This bounty enables the Hima to feed their cattle well with grass during some eight months of the year, and to water them almost every day. Hence, Ankole cattle yield milk almost daily throughout the year, providing their owners’ families with a continuous food supply. The kingdom was ruled by a monarch known as

2236-464: The region, namely the Nyoro, Kiga, Tooro and Hema peoples. Their population is 4,187,445 (9.8% of Uganda ).People from Ankole region are referred to as “Banyankore”. The Banyankore speak Orunyankore, a Great Lakes Bantu language. There were an estimated 12.3 million native speakers in 2014. Nkore Kingdom was divided into ten counties. These counties are now divided into various political constituencies. But

2288-470: The south and east. In many cases, conquered herders were incorporated into the dominant Hima stratum of society, and Bantu agricultural populations were adopted slaves and treated as legal inferiors. Neither group could own cattle, and slaves could not herd cattle owned by the Hima. Ankole society evolved into a system of ranked statuses, where even among the cattle-owning elite, patron-client ties were important in maintaining social order. Men gave cattle to

2340-453: The time, that representation in the LEGCO was not based on any community group. In 1921, the number of Asians in Uganda was 5,000. The Europeans numbered 1,000. There was, therefore, a vacant Asian position. This was filled on a temporary basis by Major A.L. Ranton, who was not a resident in Uganda, but had estates in Mityana, approximately 48 miles west of Kampala. The unofficial membership of

2392-424: The turn of the century. In fact, the only female gombolola chief appointed by the British administration, Julia Kibubura, was from Ankole. Women leaders were sometimes credited with extraordinary powers. Ankole was renowned for its female diviners who included well-known women like Murogo, Nyatuzana, Kyishokye and Kibubwa. For example, the king (mugabe) Rwebishengye appointed the famous diviner Murogo to work for him as

2444-696: Was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom , first created in 1768 from the Southern Department to deal with colonial affairs in North America (particularly the Thirteen Colonies , as well as, the Canadian territories recently won from France), until merged into the new Home Office in 1782. In 1801, colonial affairs were transferred to the War Office in

2496-426: Was abolished, an Emigration Department was created in the Colonial Office. This was merged with the General Department in 1894, before its complete abolition in 1896. The increasing independence of the Dominions – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Newfoundland and South Africa – following the 1907 Imperial Conference , led to the formation of a separate Dominion Division within the Colonial Office. From 1925 onwards

2548-399: Was born as the illegitimate son of Wamara (or Ndahura), the last emperor of the Empire of Kitara . His mother was known as Njunaki and was a servant in the king's palace. During the collapse of the empire, the throne was usurped by the Bunyoro and Wamara was forced to flee to Ntusi where he formed his new capital with a group of Bahima followers. Ruhinda was left behind and disguised as

2600-485: Was increased to 3 each. There were some concerns about the powers of the LEGCO from Buganda . On Monday 21 March 1921, Ssekabaka Daudi Chwa (King of Buganda ) and Sir Apollo Kaggwa wrote a letter to the colonial Governor questioning the Legislative Council's powers to make laws in Buganda. The letter made reference to Article 5 of the Uganda Agreement 1900 which in effect meant Buganda had complete self-governance in terms of local administration and so any laws made by

2652-403: Was replaced by the Dominion Office in 1925. It was headed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies , known informally as the Colonial Secretary. Prior to 1768, responsibility for the affairs of the British colonies was part of the duties of the Secretary of State for the Southern Department and a committee of the Privy Council known as the Board of Trade and Plantations . Separately,

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2704-461: Was that all members of the LEGCO should be elected on a common role. Prior to this happening the colonial Governor used to nominate members. Although the LEGCO operated as a parliament of some sort, important matters to do with Uganda remained in the hands of the British government in London. For example, when he appointed the constitutional committee, the colonial Governor made it clear that "the size and composition of LEGCO and also possible size of

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