Preface and Acknowledgements

It is hardly too bold to speak on behalf of the international community of Africanists when I voice the widespread grief at Dr. Dan Mudoola's premature death and express our sympathy with his wife Irene and his five children.

All of us who knew Dan academically and personally, feel a great sense of horror that he, with his warm and modest personality, should be the victim of a meaningless act of political terror springing from the turbulence of the many divisions in Ugandan society.

Over the last five years I have had the privilege of working closely with Dan on a scheme of collaboration between Makerere Institute of Social Research and the University of Copenhagen. Supported by a grant from Danida (the Danish Development Agency), the aim of the project has primarily been to enhance the research capacity of MISR and thereby bring it back on the track to its former glory, an aim which was closest to Dan's heart during his years as Director of MISR.

In addition Dan played a major role in two international conferences on Uganda's recovery since 1985 held in Denmark, and he has been a main contributor to the two resulting books, Uganda Now from 1988 and Changing Uganda from 1991.

It therefore seems natural that Dan's latest manuscript, finished just three months before his untimely death, should be published as soon as possible and stands as a memorial of his academic work. It will also stand as a token in assisting Dan's closest family to overcome the immense sense of loss they feel in these months.

I am grateful to Mr. James Tumusiime of Fountain Publishers Ltd. for taking a personal interest in the matter. Apart from the assistance from the University of Copenhagen and Danida I gratefully acknowledge the grant from SAREC (the Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation with Developing Countries) under whose auspices Dan did his latest research. All have helped to set this memorial for an outstanding and sadly missed Ugandan scholar.

Prof. Holger Bernt Hansen
University of Copenhagen