With the exception of a few countries, the post-independence development of Sub-Saharan Africa has been disappointing. In most countries, the growth of national income has barely kept pace with population growth. In others, GDP and per capita income growth rates have been negative. A combination of high population and urban growth rates before industrialisation have resulted in massive underemployment and unemployment in the urban areas. The origins of these problems lie in the unseating of nationalist and pragmatic governments by imperialism, implementation without adaptation of inappropriate institutions copied from competing ideological camps, adoption of anti-growth economic policies which turned the terms of trade against agriculture, and implementation failures arising from a mismatch between policies and institutions.For African countries to be on a sustainable path of development, a manufacturing export strategy, backed by a rehabilitated agricultural sector and a home market, is essential. To make a positive contribution in the realm of adaptive institutions, policies and policy-making, it is imperative to examine the political economy of each country in the light of the historical record in policy formulation. This would set a benchmark for future actions from which to draw lessons. It is in this context that this study explores in some detail the experience of Uganda.