Head of Government—Prime Minister Samson Babi Mululu KISEKKA (since 30 January 1986); First Deputy Prime Minister Eriya KATEGAYA (since NA)
Political parties and leaders: only party—National Resistance
Movement (NRM); note—the Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM), Ugandan
People's Congress (UPC), Democratic Party (DP), and Conservative Party
(CP) are all proscribed from conducting public political activities
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: National Resistance Council—last held 11-28 February 1989 (next to be held after January 1995); results—NRM is the only party; seats—(278 total, 210 indirectly elected) NRM 210
Other political parties or pressure groups: Uganda People's Democratic
Movement (UPDM), Uganda People's Front (UPF), Uganda Freedom Movement (UFM),
Holy Spirit Movement (HSM)
Communists: possibly a few sympathizers
Member of: ACP, AfDB, CCC, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD,
ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB—Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO,
WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Stephen Kapimpina KATENTA-APULI; 5909 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20011; telephone (202) 726-7100 through 7102; US—Ambassador John A. BURROUGHS, Jr.; Embassy at British High Commission Building, Obote Avenue, Kampala (mailing address is P. O. Box 7007, Kampala); telephone [256] (41) 259791
Flag: six equal horizonal bands of black (top), yellow, red, black, yellow, and red; a white disk is superimposed at the center and depicts a red-crested crane (the national symbol) facing the staff side
- Economy Overview: Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt. For most of the past 15 years the economy has been devastated by political instability, mismanagement, and civil war, keeping Uganda poor with a per capita income of about $300. (GDP remains below the levels of the early 1970s, as does industrial production.) Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, employing over 80% of the work force. Coffee is the major export crop and accounted for 97% of export revenues in 1988. Since 1986 the government has acted to rehabilitate and stabilize the economy by undertaking currency reform, raising producer prices on export crops, increasing petroleum prices, and improving civil service wages. The policy changes are especially aimed at dampening inflation, which was running at over 300% in 1987, and boosting production and export earnings.