Mutesa II of Buganda

Mutesa II was the 35th Kabaka of Buganda and Uganda’s first president. He reigned as Kabaka from 1939 to 1969, with a period of exile from 1953 to 1955.

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Buganda Crisis: The 1953–1955 confrontation between Kabaka Mutesa II and British authorities that led to his exile and return. Mutesa’s exile made this conflict a turning point in his reign.
Kabaka: The hereditary king of Buganda, whose authority rests on the kingdom’s institutions and traditions. Mutesa’s kingship was restored under a settlement that limited and defined its powers.
Milton Obote: Uganda’s first prime minister and later president, whose government abolished the kingdoms in 1967. Obote’s struggle with Mutesa culminated in the 1966 attack on the Kabaka’s palace.
Mutesa II’s 1953 address to the United Nations: Mutesa II’s appeal to the United Nations during his exile, challenging Britain’s handling of Buganda’s constitutional status. His international appeal made the dispute over his deposition visible beyond Uganda.
Uganda Independence: The end of British colonial rule and establishment of the sovereign state of Uganda in 1962. Mutesa became Uganda’s first president the year after independence.
1962 Constitution of Uganda: The constitution that established independent Uganda as a federal state with a largely ceremonial president. It made Mutesa president while preserving Buganda’s federal status.
Frederick Mutesa I: The 19th-century Kabaka of Buganda whose reign preceded the kingdom’s incorporation into British colonial rule. Mutesa II inherited a throne shaped by his kingdom’s earlier dealings with Britain.
Battle of Mengo: The 1966 assault on the Lubiri, the Kabaka’s palace in Mengo, by government forces under Idi Amin. Mutesa escaped the palace during the attack that ended his political role in Uganda.
1966 Ugandan coup d'état: The military overthrow of Uganda’s government by Prime Minister Milton Obote in 1966. The coup removed Mutesa from the presidency and forced him into exile.
Uganda’s 1966 constitutional crisis: The political struggle that ended Uganda’s federal arrangement and replaced the 1962 constitution. The crisis pitted Mutesa’s constitutional position against Obote’s centralizing government.