Indirect rule: The system of indirect rule as well as the divide and rule policy which divided the people along tribal, religious and racial lines. The colonial practice of divide and rule was imposed to reduce social interaction and the emergency of collective consciousness among the oppressed people.

No common cause: There were no common nation wide burning issues among the people like it happened in Kenya and Zimbabwe. The problems in Uganda were local and affected small groups of people.

Ethnic groups: Uganda being a heterogeneous nation, people could not easily unite against the foreigners.

Poverty: The economic backwardness among Ugandans contributed to the delay in party formation. Some people lacked transport to move and even getting information for easy mobilisation. It became difficult without funds.

Religious rivalries: This was one factor that also divided the politicians. They kept on doubting the efforts of other religious groups. Protestants could not co-operate with the Catholics and vice versa.

Illiteracy: By then, few African had acquired formal education while the majority was ignorant about the politics of Uganda.

Poor communication: There was the problem of language barrier that made it difficult for people to understand each other.

Low exposure: Little exposure to freedom fighters worldwide may have contributed to the delay.

Little ambition: The Africans who participated in leadership were not ambitious for political posts because they were contented with the positions they held.

Traditional leaders: The traditional leaders opposed the formation of political parties in Uganda. Especially in Buganda, parties were seen as a threat to the Buganda monarch and its special position accorded to her by the Buganda agreement of 1900.

Fear: The defeat of earlier resistances like the Nyabingi rebellion in Kigezi, the Lamogi rebellion in Northern Uganda and Nyangire-Abaganda rebellion in Bunyoro in Uganda made the would be nationalists to shy away.

The British favours on Buganda hindered mass nationalism in Uganda till the 1950s. In pursuit of their indirect rule, the British sent a number of Baganda agents to rule other tribes e.g Semei Kakungulu was sent to Eastern Uganda, James Miti to Bunyoro, etc. This created anti-Baganda sentiments in Uganda to make matters worse, the British rewarded their Baganda collaborators with social economic developments such as good schools, hospitals and roads. This made them proud and brewed the jealousy of other tribes towards Buganda. Mass nationalism had to delay.

Colonial developments such as roads, urban centres, schools , hospitals and factories made Ugandans generally friendly and loyal to the British colonialists. The British colonial economy made most Ugandans busy cultivating cash crops as coffee, cotton and tea. They were pre-occupied with the desire to become rich and had no time for politics. Hence delayed nationalism.

Most elites were colonial puppets. The British provided employment opportunities to the elites in the colonial civil service. Such Africans were prevented from joining politics and any who did were retrenched from the colonial jobs. This made most elites to shy away from politics and hence delayed nationalism.
The absence of trade. The British discouraged the formation of trade unions because they could enlighten Ugandans. The few, which existed, were in Buganda and were religiously divided.

The limited nature of the press. The earliest newspapers were written in one language- Luganda e.g "Uganda Eyogera", "Munno" etc. These only appealed to the Baganda monarchical sentiments.

The delay of political parties. The British did not favour the formation f political parties and even when these emerged later, the British promoted religious divisions between them. This prevented unity and hence delayed independence.

The absence of Asian and European politics in Uganda also led to delayed nationalism in Uganda. Unlike south Africa or Southern Rhodesia where whites formed political parties, there were no such exposures for Ugandans. Even the Asians were pre-occupied with business and not politics. So, Ugandans took long to gain the concept of political parties.

The harsh reaction of the British to riots led to delayed nationalism in Uganda e.g the 1945 and 1949 riots in Buganda were crushed violently and this scared a number of nationalists all over Uganda.

The ideological differences between the newly formed parties also delayed the independence of Uganda e,g the UNC and UPC became socialist oriented due to the activities of strong socialist members e.g Change -Macho, Bidandi Sali, Kirunda Kivejinja etc. The DP was capitalist while the Uganda National Movement was positive in action. Such differences led to delayed nationalism.

The slow rate of urbanisation also hindered quick nationalism. The majority of Uganda's population was rural based, poverty-stricken and couldn't finance political party activities.

Buganda's secessionist tendencies also hindered the growth of nationalism in Uganda. Buganda which had the best social and economic infrastructure wanted to break away from the rest of Uganda. It was opposed to unitarism and favoured federal government. This provoked the jealousy of other tribes.

The absence of charismatic leaders. Lastly, the leaders of the political parties were not full time politicians. They were "Weekend Politicians" mostly comprising of teachers, lawyers, doctors and businessmen who were engaged on their professional duties from Monday to Friday but participated in politics on free weekends only.