Did you know that the Democratic Party is one of the oldest in Uganda?

INDEPENDENCE HISTORY

The Democratic Party (DP), started by Matayo Mugwanya and Ben Kiwanuka, is one of the oldest political parties in the country. The first multiparty elections were held in early 1961. 

Buganda Kingdom loyalists urged subjects to boycott the elections because Buganda's major problems had not yet been addressed.

However, DP did not heed the Kabaka's order and its members went ahead and took part in the election, which they won in Buganda. DP's win elevated Ben Kiwanuka to be the first Prime Minister of the country.

Mengo could not have the idea of a Catholic-dominated government and so Milton Obote's Uganda People's Congress (UPC), which was predominantly Protestant, entered an alliance with the Kabaka Yekka (KY) party. The UPC/KY alliance led to the defeat of DP after the final 1962 election.

Uganda's first national parliament, therefore, consisted of 43 UPC delegates, 24 KY delegates and 24 DP delegates. Thus, the UPC/KY alliance led Uganda into independence in October 1962.