Ugandan lost counties referendum, 1964

The lost counties referendum of November 1964 was a local referendum held to decide whether the "lost counties" of Buyaga and Bugangaizi in Uganda (modern day Kibaale District) should continue to be part of the Kingdom of Buganda, be transferred back to the Kingdom of Bunyoro, or be established as a separate district. The electorate, consisting of the residents of the two counties at the time of independence, voted overwhelmingly to be returned to Bunyoro.

In 1893–4, British colonel Henry Colvile invaded the Kingdom of Bunyoro in an effort to secure and expand the nascent Uganda Protectorate, which initially included solely the Kingdom of Buganda. Colvile promised all lands south of the River Kafu to Buganda in return for their support, and following the conflict the relevant counties were duly transferred as promised, with the transfer recognised in the Buganda Agreement (1900). Despite deliberate attempts by the Bugandan government to integrate the resident Banyoro, the return of the 'lost counties' was the subject of repeated appeals from the Bunyoro government to the British government.

The potential for conflict between the two Kingdoms was therefore still a considerable cause for concern in the run up to independence amid considerable violence. In 1961 the Uganda Relationships Commission, under the leadership of the Earl of Munster, was tasked with looking into the issue. It proposed that a referendum should be held in three of the disputed counties: Buyaga and Bugangaizi (the two counties which retained the strongest cultural and ethnic ties to Bunyoro) and a third county of Bunyoro's choice. This would "put [Bunyoro's] claims to the test in a county where the figures appear to be against her so that Bunyoro would have no grievance in future based upon unqualified success in a strictly limited referendum". In the talks leading up to Lancaster House Conference of October 1961, neither Bunyoro nor Buganda looked favourably on such a proposition: Bunyoro favoured a referendum in all the lost counties and Buganda a referendum in none. Bunyoro only agreed to participate in the Conference if the 'lost counties' issue was on the agenda; and when the British Colonial Secretary Ian Macleod suggested that the proposed referendum could not proceed given the lack Bugandan support, instead proposing the establishment of a further Commission of Privy Councillors, Bunyoro's delegates walked out.

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