Born in 1925, Idi Amin
was a military officer that rose to become the President of Uganda in 1971. He
ran a regime that was characterized and recognized for its brutality and
cruelty; the worst in the history of modern history. Thus he earned the
nickname “Butcher of Uganda”.
By the time of his
exile from Uganda, an estimated 500,000 including civilians and the opposition had
been killed.
Idi Amin joined the
army as a cook and after almost two decades and half rose to become head of state.
After the UK severed its relationship with Uganda, Idi Amin went on to declare himself “Conqueror of the British Empire”, CBE.
His administration was
noted for its grave human rights abuses, ethnic persecution, and financial
mismanagement.
Beginnings
Amin was born to
Andreas Nyabire from the Kakwa tribe, in Uganda in 1925. Andreas in 1910 converted
from Catholicism to Islam and also changed his name to Amin Dada.
His father however left
the family while Idi Amin was still a little boy. Idi Amin hence grew up with
his mother, a traditional herbalist who tended to members of the Buganda
royalty.
He joined an Islamic
school in 1941 but dropped out a few years later due to his mother’s inability
to sponsor his studies.
In 1946, he was
recruited into the King’s African Rifles of the British Colonial Army as an
assistant cook. He served the army in Kenya against the Mau Mau rebels and
Somali rebels. By 1953, he was elevated to the rank of corporal and later to sergeant.
Due to his bravery and
dedication to the army, he was made an afande
in 1959; the highest rank for a black man in the colonial British Army.
The record has it that Idi
Amin was among the first two Ugandans to be commissioned officers when he was
promoted to lieutenant in 1961.
As a military officer, he was actively involved in sports. He was an athlete, a swimmer, and the
Ugandan light heavyweight boxing champion from 1951 to 1960. His height and
massive build also made him a formidable force in the game of rugby.
Army
life and rise in the army
The rapid rise of Idi
Amin came as a result of the exit of the British from Uganda. In 1962, Uganda
gained independence, this opened space for Ugandans to take the position of
foreigners in the military. Amin was promoted to captain in 1952, to major in
1963, Deputy Commander of the Army and in 1964, Commander of the Uganda Army.
By 1970, he was the Commander of all the armed forces of Uganda.
Idi Amin began the
recruitment of people from the Kakwa, Lugbara tribes, and South Sudanese that
had migrated to Uganda as far back as the 20th century. Incidentally, his father
was Kakwa while his mother was Lugbara.
The
Coup
The rise if Amin and
his activities soon brought him into conflict with Prime Minister Milton Obote.
Idi Amin’s complicity in the operations of a rebel group operating in Sudan was
one of the reasons that led to the two men coming into conflict. Also, an
attempt to eliminate Obote by Idi Amin compelled Obote to take control of the
armed forces in October 1970.
On January 25, 1971,
Amin carried out a successful coup after he learned of plans by Obote to arrest
him for misappropriating funds meant for the army. Obote was in faraway
Singapore for the Commonwealth meeting when the coup against him was carried
out.
In a broadcast, Idi Amin
made to the people of Uganda he accused Obote of corruption which the people
accepted and cheered him on for his intervention. He promised to release
political prisoners and sit in as a caretaker to oversee new elections.
Unfortunately, he failed
to conduct elections as promised but went on to declare himself president a
week after the coup. He unilaterally made himself Commander-in-Chief of the
Armed Forces, Ugandan Army Chief of Staff, and Chief of Air Staff.
Idi
Amin as President
He suspended the
constitution and appointed military officers to government agencies and
ruled by decree. Idi Amin also embarked on the mass execution of the Acholi and
Lango tribes; Obote was an Acholi by the tribe.
Initially, he got
support from Israel, Great Britain, and West Germany but his alliance with
Russia and communism raised eyebrows.
Meanwhile, Obote
returned to Africa but took refuge in Tanzania at the invitation of President
Julius Nyerere. He mobilized about 20,000 Ugandans that had fled the country
for fear of Idi Amin.
Their attempt to take
back the country failed when they launched an attack in 1972. In response, Idi
Amin began the process of purging the Uganda Army of Obote’s tribesmen and
supporters, particularly the Acholi and Lango tribes. Many were massacred; both
civilians and military personnel.
Idi Amin’s taste for
blood and revenge continued unabated as other tribes, lawyers, religious
leaders, and students as well as foreign nationals became victims.
The record has it that
throughout his regime killings continued with an estimated 500,000 people
eliminated during this period. Amin recruited people from his tribe and South
Sudanese to perpetrate terrible and heinous crimes against humanity. His army
was 50% South Sudanese, 26% Congolese, and 24% Ugandan.
He also elevated the Muslim
faithful ahead of others. Thus they made up 80% of his cabinet despite the fact
they were less than 5% of the country’s population.
The economic war he
waged in August 1972 against foreigners mostly Indians and Asian doing business
in Uganda involved confiscating their assets. He further expelled them from Uganda
and handed their properties to his friends and supporters.
He also expropriated
and nationalized about 80 businesses owned by British nationals and broke
diplomatic ties with the British.
This act proved
disastrous for the economy of Uganda as the new owners had little or no idea of how to run a company. Consequently, within a short while, they all collapsed.
Conversely, some
cabinet members fearful for their lives defected to the United Kingdom from 1975
to 1977.
Controversies
The height of his
rascality and international blunders was his involvement in the hijacking of a
plane by a team of terrorists in June 1976. He permitted them to use the Entebbe
Airport as a holding ground for the hostages.
After sieving the
passengers 83 Jewish nationals were held hostage while the others were allowed
to leave Uganda. In July 1976 a group of Israeli Commandos stormed the airport
and rescued the hostages.
Idi Amin after the
successful rescue of the hostages ordered the killing of Kenyan residents. This
was in Uganda in retaliation for the assistance the Kenyan government gave to
the Israelis.
The involvement of
Uganda forced the UK to close its High Commission in the country.
Overthrow and Exile of
Idi Amin
Within his government
opposition to his style of leadership became stronger and snowballed into a
rift between him and the vice president, General Mustafa Adrisi.
His inability to grow
the economy led to a depressed economy and infrastructural collapse. By 1977
many of his former allies had fled the country. Former loyal troops began to
mutiny which reduced the capacity of the army.
Defeat
and Exile
Amin nonetheless, embarked
on a purging process to remove high-ranking officers from their post, including
Gen Mustafa who was recuperating from a car accident in Cairo. This angered the
populace and triggered political turbulence in Uganda.
Troops
loyal to Gen Mustafa in November 1978, mutinied which further polarized the
country. The mutineers fled to Tanzania where fighting continued between the
Uganda-Tanzania border. Thereafter Idi Amin ordered an invasion of Tanzania and
annexed Kagera in the region in Tanzania at the early stage of the crisis.
President
Nyerere prepared his army and attacked the invaders in January 1979, in
collaboration with Ugandan exiles that took refuge in Tanzania.
In
April 1979 unable to withstand the force, Amin abandoned his country when
Kampala, the capital was taken and fled to Libya. Two days after he fled the
country he was succeeded by Yusufu Lule.
He
stayed in Libya till 1980 before he, moved to Saudi Arabia where the royal
family took him in. They also catered to and paid him generously after he accepted
to shun political affairs in his country.
Death
Idi
Amin slipped into a coma on July 19, 2003, in a hospital in Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia. His wife pleaded with the then-president of Uganda Yoweri Museveni to
allow him to return to Uganda. This request was turned down.
With
his condition not improving, his family decided to disconnect him from the life
support machine on August 16, 2003. He was buried in Jeddah. He died living
behind 54 children which he got from 7 wives.
Until his death, Idi Amin was recorded as an erratic, brutal, and unpredictable fellow and was suspected of being a cannibal.