Oh Uganda, Land of Beauty

"Oh Uganda, Land of Beauty" is the national anthem of Uganda. George Wilberforce Kakoma composed the music and authored the lyrics. It was adopted as the national anthem in 1962, when the country gained independence from the United Kingdom. It is musically one of the shortest national anthems in the world. Consequently, multiple verses are sung when it is performed in public.

History

From 1894 until the height of decolonisation during the 1960s, Uganda was a protectorate of the United Kingdom within its colonial empire.<ref name=EBhist>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the run up to independence, a subcommittee was formed to determine an anthem for the forthcoming state.<ref name=Musisi>Template:Cite news</ref> It proceeded to hold a nationwide contest,<ref name=Minahan>Template:Cite book</ref> with the criteria they stipulated for the anthem being that it should be "short, original, solemn, praising and looking forward to the future".<ref name=Musisi/>

In the end, the lyrics and tune composed by George Wilberforce Kakoma were selected in July 1962.<ref name=Musisi/> He wrote the anthem in one day, having listened on Radio Uganda the night before about how none of the entries received so far had been deemed suitable by the subcommittee.<ref name=Musisi/> His entry was one of four that was shortlisted.<ref name="Karugaba and Kakongi">Template:Cite news</ref> The song was officially adopted in 1962, the year the country gained independence.<ref name=Minahan/><ref name=CIA>Template:Cite web</ref> The first public occasion where the anthem was played was at the celebrations marking independence on 9 October 1962.<ref name=EBhist/><ref name="Karugaba and Kakongi"/>

Kakoma subsequently sued the government in 2008, claiming that he was never adequately remunerated and thus had rights to over four decades of royalty payments.<ref name="Karugaba and Kakongi"/><ref name=Michaels>Template:Cite news</ref> He alleged that the government gave him a mere USh.2,000/=,<ref name="Karugaba and Kakongi"/><ref name=Michaels/> equivalent to less than £1 in 2008, as a "token of thanks".<ref name=Michaels/> Kakoma died before the country's Court of Appeal dismissed the case in 2019, finding that the anthem's copyright vested in the government and not the author.<ref name="Karugaba and Kakongi"/>

Lyrics

In national languages

English lyrics<ref name=Minahan/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Luganda lyrics<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	Swahili lyrics
<poem>I Oh, Uganda! May God uphold thee, We lay our future in thy hand; United, free for liberty together we'll always stand. II Oh, Uganda! The land of freedom, Our love and labour we give; And with neighbours all at our country's call In peace and friendship we'll live. III Oh, Uganda! The land that feeds us, By sun and fertile soil grown; For our own dear land, we shall always stand, The Pearl of Africa's Crown.</poem>	<poem>Template:Lang</poem>	<poem>Template:Lang</poem>

In local languages

Template:Wikisourcelang Along with the Luganda and Swahili translations, the national anthem has also been translated into several other local languages.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Composition

At only eight bars long,<ref group="upper-alpha">Some sources incorrectly state that the anthem is nine bars long.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This is because the pickup bar at the beginning of the song is only a partial measure and thus not counted as a complete bar.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref></ref> "Oh Uganda, Land of Beauty" is musically one of the shortest national anthems in the world,<ref name=Sherwin>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> together with Japan's anthem.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Both Michael Bristow, the editor of the book National Anthems of the World,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and Philip Sheppard have identified Uganda's national anthem as the shortest.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As a result, multiple verses are typically sung when it is performed at public events like international football games.<ref name=Sherwin/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

• Uganda: Oh Uganda, Land of Beauty – Audio of the national anthem of Uganda, with information and lyrics (archive link)
• Pearl of Africa MIDI