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'.
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.
[2] 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.
[1] It was in November 1968 that Obote remarked that Uganda was pursuing a "middle of the road strategy", one that was "neither left nor right", and predicted a leftwards swing in policy during 1969.
According to historian Amii Omara-Otunnu, Obote decided to undertake the Move to the Left to deemphasize his reliance on the Uganda Army to maintain his authority, which had become increasingly apparent after he deposed President Edward Mutesa and consolidated his power during the Mengo Crisis in 1966.
[4] The Common Man's Charter, which was published for comment in October 1969 and approved by the Party on 19 December, was the first major document that attempted to give definition to the Move to the Left.
It is.... that political and economic power must be vested in the majority", typifying the mixture of socialist and nationalist motivations the policy represented.
[7] In reality, little preparation had been carried out, nor thought given to the pronouncement's consequences; it seems that the President did not even give the Cabinet any prior warning of his decision.
The behaviour of the educated and business elite certainly indicates that racial, national, and vocational considerations were of major importance and that socialism was something to which only ritualistic obeisance was paid if any concern was expressed about it at all... talk about the Common Man was more often than not cynical in the extreme.
The incoming Minister of Finance declared that the new regime would "break away from the trend towards absolute central control of the economy and adopt a more liberal economic policy".