The Ugandan Constitutional Conference, held at

Lancaster House Lancaster House (originally known as York House and then Stafford House) is a mansion in the St James's district in the West End of London. It is close to St James's Palace, and much of the site was once part of the palace complex. This ...

in the autumn of 1961, was organised by the British Government to pave the way of Ugandan independence.

History

The Conference opened on 18 September 1961 and concluded on 9 October. It was convened to discuss the Report of the

Uganda Relationships Commission The Uganda Relationships Commission, also known as the Munster Commission, was a body established by the Government of the United Kingdom to make recommendations on the best form of government for an independent Uganda. History Britain had estab ...

, which had been tasked with "consider ngthe future form of government best suited to Uganda the question of the relationship between the Central Government and the other authorities in Uganda" and had reported in June. In addition to UK Government Ministers (including the Secretary of State for the Colonies,

Ian Macleod Ian MacLeod may refer to: * Ian MacLeod (footballer), Scottish footballer * Ian MacLeod (Canadian football), Canadian football player * Ian R. MacLeod, British science fiction and fantasy writer See also * Iain MacLeod (disambiguation) * Ian McLeo ...

), the conference was attended by representatives of the colonial administration (headed by Sir Frederick Crawford, then Governor of Uganda), Baganda, the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, the

Uganda People's Congress The Uganda People's Congress (UPC; sw, Congress ya Watu wa Uganda) is a political party in Uganda. UPC was founded in 1960 by Milton Obote, who led the country to independence and later served two presidential terms under the party's banner ...

(UPC) and others.

Milton Obote Apollo Milton Obote (28 December 1925 – 10 October 2005) was a Ugandan political leader who led Uganda to independence from British colonial rule in 1962. Following the nation's independence, he served as prime minister of Uganda from 1962 t ...

and the honourable A.G. Mehta were the lead representatives for the UPC. The main issue facing the conference was the status afforded to the different historic kingdoms of Uganda (and in particular the

Kingdom of Buganda Buganda is a Bantu kingdom within Uganda. The kingdom of the Baganda people, Buganda is the largest of the traditional kingdoms in present-day East Africa, consisting of Buganda's Central Region, including the Ugandan capital Kampala. The 14 mi ...

) in exchange for them recognising the existence of the new state of Uganda, of which they would only be one part. In addition, the Kingdom of Bunyoro only agreed to participate in the Conference if the disputed status of the "lost counties" was discussed. When, during the Conference, Macleod suggested that the referendum envisaged by the Relationships Commission could not proceed given the lack Bugandan support, instead proposing the establishment of a further Commission of Privy Councillors (the

Molson Commission The Molson Brewery is a Canadian based brewery company based in Montreal which was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors. Molson Coors maintains some of its Ca ...

), Bunyoro's delegates walked out. The recommendations of the conference resulted in the Buganda Agreement of 1961, which supplanted the Buganda Agreement of 1955, as well as the first Ugandan Constitution.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Report of the Conference
on

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Diplomatic conferences in the United Kingdom 1961 in the United Kingdom 1961 in Uganda 1961 in London 1960s in the City of Westminster Uganda and the Commonwealth of Nations United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations