Move to the Left

The Move to the Left was a policy direction undertaken in Uganda, most notably under President Milton Obote in the period 1968–1971. Despite nominally being a move towards socialism, it also had strong nationalist overtones.

According to Akena Adoko, former head of the General Service Unit in Uganda, it took time for socialism to be established in Uganda because of the political realities of the time:

The first and nominal socialist phase was from 1952 to 1963 when the Uganda National Congress and later the UPC professed socialism. But it could not be implemented as the colonial administration preferred capitalism which they covered under the name 'mixed economy'. During the second phase from independence day certain socialist measures were implemented, but on the whole, the split in the Cabinet between leftists and rightists completely neutralised all efforts for the 'Move to the Left'. The word socialism was even scrapped from the party constitution, and was only reinstated after the 1966 crisis [when Obote turned to the Army and suspended the constitution in order to solidify his position].

Between 1966 and 1969, however, little of a socialist bent was announced. Selwyn Ryan attributes this to Obote's political instability, suggesting that Obote "did not at first consider himself sufficiently strong politically to embark upon radical economic policies." Yash Tandon observed that "Obote has not until recently [1970] been free from the problems of maintaining the basic unity of the country.. [he] was always inclined towards a socialist path for Uganda, but for reasons of state and politics played this down between 1962 and 1968. The second Five Year Plan (roughly 1966-1971) noted the potential of the state-controlled Uganda Development Corporation, but also sought to promote small, private industry and attract foreign investment. There were few genuine socialists in Uganda, let alone socialists with genuine administrative ability. Of these, very few enjoyed the confidence of Obote.

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