by Sarah Mukasa
Background
The genesis of the Uganda Feminist Forum (UFF) – first convened in January 2008 – can be traced back to 2005 when several national and global factors impacted the women’s movement in the country. These factors both shaped the main trajectory of the movement and brought to a head underlying philosophical tensions and differences, four of them pivotal.
First was the scrapping of presidential term limits. In 2005, Uganda was at a crossroads as President Museveni’s term of office under the 1995 Constitution would have ended that year. Given that since independence in 1962 Uganda had never experienced a democratic transfer of power, the moment was significant and served as a litmus test for whether the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) would end the traditional cycle of violence and militarism by upholding the Constitution. In July 2005, during a session marred by both chicanery and coercion, Parliament voted to scrap the provision, in effect allowing the incumbent to run indefinitely for office. Several prominent Ugandans opposed this action, including leading women’s rights activists and Members of Parliament such as Winnie Byanyima and Miria Matembe.
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