The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

Since gaining independence in 1962, Uganda has endured two brutal dictatorships, numerous attempted coups and a protracted civil war. Historically, Uganda’s political parties were seen as the source of the country’s violent and unstable past. Consequently, one of President Yoweri Museveni’s first acts upon assuming power in 1986 was to ban political parties under a “no-party system,” in which the National Resistance Movement (NRM), or "the Movement,” became the country’s sole political entity. Although the no-party arrangement was designed to be temporary, 19 years since its introduction, the Movement system remained in place, making Uganda a de-facto one-party state.

In 2005 President Museveni and the “Movement” allowed a constitutional referendum raising the question of a return to multiparty elections. While opposition members in the country were bolstered by this public display of openness, many experts signaled their concern at a rider amendment in the referendum banning the limitation on presidential term limits. The successful referendum ushered in a new era of increased competition between political parties, but also, according to many experts, a consolidation of NRM power and shrinking of political space. Elections in 2006 were considered peaceful but the results were not universally accepted. Electoral legitimacy was challenged by the jailing of opposition leaders and the intimidation of political activists. Museveni won the presidency and the NRM retained significant control of the Parliament. Regardless of the de-facto current one-party nature of Ugandan politics, the nation has turned its attention to the slow but steady process of learning how to function in a multi-party system.

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