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Idi Amin (Dada), Idi (1925-2003)

Amin was the Ugandan military dictator and President from 1971 to 1979.  During his reign Amin’s military forces are estimated to have killed 500,000 people and exiled roughly 70,000 non-Ugandan nationals (mostly Asians) from Uganda.  

Idi Amin Dada was born in 1925 in the Koboko district of Northern Uganda.  His father, Amin Dada of the Kakwa ethnic group and his mother, Assa Aatte of the Lugbara group, separated at his birth.  Soon after his birth Amin and his mother settled in Lugazi, Uganda near Lake Victoria where he was raised as a Muslim.  Amin did not attend school and in 1946 at the age of 21, he joined the King’s African Rifles as a cook’s assistant.  Because of his size and willingness to use brute force, Amin was promoted within the British military.  At the time of Ugandan independence on 9 October 1962, Amin was one of only two non-British officers in the King’s African Rifles which became the Ugandan Army.

Under the new Ugandan government, headed by Milton Obote first as Prime Minister then as President, Amin quickly rose from Captain at the time of independence in 1962 to Colonel and Commander of the Army in 1965.  In this position Amin was able to recruit and promote people who would be loyal to him; this combined with Obote’s increasing dictatorial control and growing unpopularity with the Ugandan people, ensured that when Amin seized control of the country he would have virtually limitless powers as leader in Uganda and that he would initially be seen as a popular liberator.  

On January 25, 1971 the Ugandan Armed Forces took over control of Uganda while President Obote was out of the country.  Amin was quickly asked by loyal military commanders to assume supreme command.  He did so, declaring himself Commander-in-Chief.  Amin further consolidated power through a series of political killings and exiles of potential opponents including those still loyal to Obote.   He then embarked on a much larger campaign of intimidation of almost all of Uganda’s more than forty ethnic groups.  During Amin’s eight years in power there were many failed coup attempts and assassination plots.  Most notable was Obote’s attempt on September 17, 1972 to attack Uganda from his exile in Tanzania with 1,000 troops.  Amin quickly crushed this attempt.

In response Amin launched a reign of terror.  In a nation with an estimated 10 million people in 1970, nearly 500,000 died at the hands of Amin's police and army during his rule.  Also during Amin’s reign Uganda, previously one of the most vibrant agriculture economies in Africa, fell into a deep economic slump.  Thousands of Ugandan people starved when Amin expelled most of the Asian community, eliminating many who were crucial to the business economy and who had often been the employers in the agricultural sector.  

World opinion eventually condemned Amin's brutal regime.  On April 10, 1979 Kampala fell to a joint force comprised of Obote's rebel supporters and Tanzanian troops ordered in by President Julius Nyerere.  Amin fled with his wives, children, and some loyal supporters to Tripoli, Libya shortly before opposition forces took the capital city.  Amin and his family finally settled in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Idi Amin Dada died on 16 August 2003 still in exile in Saudi Arabia.  He never returned to Uganda to answer for the crimes he committed while in power.

(Redirected from Idi Amin)

'Idi Amin Dada' (mid-1920sMany sources hold that Amin was born in Koboko or Kampala, circa 1925, and that the exact date of his birth is unknown (Encyclopædia Britannica Encarta, Columbia Encyclopedia). According to researcher Fred Guweddeko, Amin was born on 17 May 1928,[1] but that is also disputed.[2]. Upon his death, medical officials said Amin had died at the age of 80, which would make his year of birth 1923. The only surety is that Amin was born in the mid-1920s–16 August 2003) was an army officer and president of Uganda. Amin joined the British colonial regiment, the King's African Rifles, in 1946, and advanced to the rank of Major General and Commander of the Ugandan Army. He took power in a military coup in January 1971, deposing Milton Obote. His rule was characterized by human rights abuses, political repression, ethnic persecution, extra judicial killings and the expulsion of Asians from Uganda. The number of people killed as a result of his regime is unknown; estimates range from 80,000 to 500,000.^[1]
Idi Amin granted himself a number of grandiose titles, and for a period in 1977 to 1979 he was titled "His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor^[2] Idi Amin Dada, VC,^[3] DSO, MC, CBE.^[4]" He became head of the Organisation of African Unity in 1975^[5] and during the 1977-1979 period, Uganda was appointed to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.^[6]
Dissent within Uganda and Amin's attempt to annex a section of Tanzania in 1978 led to the Uganda-Tanzania War and the fall of his regime in 1979. Amin fled to Saudi Arabia and lived there until his death in 2003. Amin and his regime have been the subject of films and documentaries including ''Rise and Fall of Idi Amin'' (1980) and ''The Last King of Scotland'' (2006).

Contents

Early life and military career

Colonial British army

Army commander

Seizure of power

Presidency

Establishment of military rule

Persecution of ethnic and other groups

International relations

Erratic behaviour

Deposition and exile

Family and associates

Portrayal in the media

Dramatizations

Documentaries

Notes and references

See also

External links

Early life and military career

Amin never wrote an autobiography or authorized any official account of his life. There are discrepancies as to when and where he was born. Most biographical sources hold that he was born in either Koboko or Kampala around 1925.^[7] According to Fred Guweddeko, a researcher at Makerere University, Idi Amin was the son of Andreas Nyabire (1889–1976). Nyabire, a member of the Kakwa ethnic group, converted from Roman Catholicism to Islam in 1910 and changed his name to Amin Dada. Abandoned by his father, Idi Amin grew up with his mother's family. Guweddeko states that Amin's mother was called Assa Aatte (1904–1970), an ethnic Lugbara and a traditional herbalist, who treated members of Buganda royalty, among others. Amin joined an Islamic school in Bombo in 1941, where he excelled in reciting the Qur'an. After a few years he left school and did odd jobs before being recruited to the army by a British colonial army officer.^[8]

'Chronology of Amin's military promotions'
'King's African Rifles'
1946	Joins King's African Rifles
1947	Private
1952	Corporal
1954	Effendi (Warrant Officer)
1961	First Ugandan Commissioned Officer, Lieutenant
'Uganda Army'
1962	Captain
1963	Major
1964	Deputy Commander of the Army
1965	Colonel, Commander of the Army
1968	Major General
1971	Head of State Chairman of the Defence Council Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces Army Chief of Staff and Chief of Air Staff
1975	Field Marshal

Colonial British army

Amin joined the King's African Rifles (KAR) of the British Colonial Army in 1946 as an assistant cook. He claimed he was forced to join the Army during World War II and that he served in the Burma Campaign,^[9] but records indicate he was first enlisted after the war was concluded.^[10] He transferred to Kenya for infantry service as a private in 1947 and served in the 21st KAR infantry brigade in Gilgil, Kenya, until 1949. That year, his unit was deployed to Somalia to fight the Somali Shifta rebels who were rustling cattle there.^[11] In 1952 his battalion was deployed against the Mau Mau rebels in Kenya. He was promoted to corporal the same year, then to sergeant in 1953.^[12]
In 1954 Amin was made ''effendi'' (Warrant officer), the highest rank possible for a Black African in the colonial British army. Amin returned to Uganda the same year, and in 1961 he became one of the first two Ugandans to become commissioned officers with the rank of lieutenant. He was then assigned to quell the cattle rustling between Uganda's Karamojong and Kenya's Turkana nomads. In 1962, Amin was promoted to captain and to major in 1963. The following year, he was appointed Deputy Commander of the Army. Amin was an active athlete during his time in the army; the 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) soldier was the Ugandan light heavyweight boxing champion from 1951 to 1960 and a swimmer and rugby player.Idi Amin, ''Scotsman'', August 16, 2003^[13]

Army commander

In 1965 Prime Minister Milton Obote and Amin were implicated in a deal to smuggle ivory and gold into Uganda from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The deal, as later alleged by General Nicholas Olenga, an associate of the former Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba, was part of an arrangement to help troops opposed to the Congolese government trade ivory and gold for arms supplies secretly smuggled to them by Amin. In 1966, Parliament demanded an investigation. Obote imposed a new constitution abolishing the ceremonial presidency held by ''Kabaka'' (King) Edward Mutesa II of Buganda, and declaring himself executive president. He promoted Amin to colonel and army commander. Amin led an attack on the ''Kabaka's'' palace and forced Mutesa into exile to the United Kingdom, where he remained until his death in 1969.^[14]Encyclopedia of World Biography: Idi Amin Dada Biography
Amin began recruiting members of Kakwa, Lugbara, Nubian, and other ethnic groups from the West Nile area bordering Sudan. The Nubians had been residents in Uganda since the early 20th century, having come from Sudan to serve the colonial army. In Uganda, Nubians were commonly perceived as Sudanese foreigners and erroneously referred to as Anyanya (Anyanya were southern Sudanese rebels of the First Sudanese Civil War and were not involved in Uganda). Because many ethnic groups in northern Uganda inhabit both Uganda and Sudan, allegations persist that Amin's army consisted substantially of Sudanese soldiers.^[15]

Seizure of power

Eventually, a rift developed between Amin and Obote, worsened by the support Amin had built within the army by recruiting from the West Nile region, his involvement in operations to support the rebellion in southern Sudan, and the attempt on Obote's life in 1969. In October 1970, Obote himself took control of the armed forces, reducing Amin from his months-old post of commander of all the armed forces to that of commander of the army.British Council: General Idi Amin overthrows Ugandan government (February 2, 1971)
Amin learned that Obote was planning to arrest him for misappropriating army funds and seized power in a military coup on January 25, 1971, while Obote was attending a Commonwealth summit meeting in Singapore. Troops loyal to Amin sealed off Entebbe International Airport, the main artery into Uganda, and took Kampala. Soldiers surrounded Obote's residence and blocked major roads. A broadcast on Radio Uganda accused Obote's government of corruption and preferential treatment of the Lango region. Cheering crowds were reported in the streets of Kampala after the radio broadcast.^[16] Amin announced that he was a soldier, not a politician, and that the military government would remain only as a caretaker regime until new elections, which would be announced as soon as the situation was normalised. He promised to release all political prisoners.^[17]
Amin was initially welcomed both within Uganda and by the international community. In an internal memo, the British Foreign Office described him as "a splendid type and a good football player".^[18] He gave former king and president Mutesa (who had died in exile) a state burial in April 1971, freed many political prisoners, and reiterated his promise to hold free and fair elections to return the country to democratic rule in the shortest period possible.^[19]

Presidency

Establishment of military rule

On February 2, 1971, one week after the coup, Amin declared himself President of Uganda, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Army Chief of Staff and Chief of Air Staff. He announced that he was suspending certain provisions of the constitution and soon instituted an Advisory Defence Council composed of military officers, with himself as the chairman. Amin placed military tribunals above the system of civil law, appointed soldiers to top government posts and parastatal agencies, and informed the newly inducted civilian cabinet ministers that they would be subject to military discipline.Library of Congress Country Studies: Uganda. Military Rule Under Amin Amin renamed the presidential lodge in Kampala from Government House to "The Command Post". He disbanded the General Service Unit (GSU), an intelligence agency created by the previous government, and replaced it with the State Research Bureau (SRB). SRB headquarters at Nakasero became the scene of torture and executions over the next several years.Library of Congress Country Studies: Uganda. Uganda: Post-Independence Security Services Other agencies used to root out political dissent included the military police and the Public Safety Unit (PSU).
Obote took refuge in Tanzania, having been offered sanctuary there by Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere. He was soon joined by 20,000 Ugandan refugees fleeing Amin. In 1972, the exiles attempted to regain the country through a poorly organized coup attempt, without success."An Idi-otic Invasion", ''Time Magazine'', November 13, 1978

Persecution of ethnic and other groups

Amin retaliated against the attempted invasion by Ugandan exiles in 1972 by purging the army of Obote supporters, predominantly those from the Acholi and Lango ethnic groups."Biography: Idi Amin Dada," About.com In July 1971, Lango and Acholi soldiers were massacred in the Jinja and Mbarara Barracks,^[20] and by early 1972, some 5,000 Acholi and Lango soldiers, and at least twice as many civilians, had disappeared.Obituary: Idi Amin, ''Daily Telegraph'', 17 September, 2003. The victims soon came to include members of other ethnic groups, religious leaders, journalists, senior bureaucrats, judges, lawyers, students and intellectuals, criminal suspects, and foreign nationals. In some cases entire villages were wiped out.^[21] In this atmosphere of violence, many other people were killed for criminal motives or simply at will.^[22] Bodies were dumped into the River Nile, on at least one occasion in quantities sufficient to clog the Owen Falls Hydro-Electric Dam in Jinja.^[23]
The killings, motivated by ethnic, political and financial factors, continued throughout Amin's eight-year reign. The exact number of people killed is unknown. The International Commission of Jurists estimated the death toll at no fewer than 80,000 and more likely around 300,000. An estimate compiled by exile organizations with the help of Amnesty International puts the number killed at 500,000. Among the most prominent people killed were: Benedicto Kiwanuka, the former prime minister and later chief justice; Janani Luwum, the Anglican archbishop; Joseph Mubiru, the former governor of the Central Bank; Frank Kalimuzo, the vice chancellor of Makerere University; Byron Kawadwa, a prominent playwright; and two of Amin's own cabinet ministers, Erinayo Wilson Oryema and Charles Oboth Ofumbi.^[24]
In 1977, Henry Kyemba, Amin's health minister and a former official of the first Obote regime, defected and resettled in Britain. Kyemba wrote and published ''A State of Blood'', the first insider exposé of Amin's rule.
In August 1972, Idi Amin declared what he called an "economic war", a set of policies that included the expropriation of properties owned by Asians and Europeans. Uganda's 80,000 Asians were mostly Indians born in the country, whose ancestors had come to Uganda when the country was still a British colony. Many owned businesses, including large-scale enterprises, that formed the backbone of the Ugandan economy. On August 4, 1972, Amin issued a decree ordering the expulsion of the 60,000 Asians who were not Ugandan citizens (most of them held British passports). This was later amended to include all 80,000 Asians, with the exception of professionals, such as doctors, lawyers and teachers. Most of the Asians with British passports, around 30,000, emigrated to Britain. Others went to Australia, Canada, India, Sweden, and the U.S.^[25][26][27]Amin expropriated businesses and properties belonging to the Asians and handed them over to his supporters. The businesses were mismanaged, and industries collapsed from lack of maintenance. This proved disastrous for the already declining economy.

International relations

India severed relations with Uganda over the expulsion of Indian citizens. The Indian government warned Uganda of dire consequences if no actions were taken to prevent the anti-Indian violence. Amin ignored the ultimatum and, in the end, India did not take any diplomatic action against Uganda.
In 1972, Amin severed diplomatic ties with Britain and nationalized 85 British-owned businesses. He expelled Israeli military advisers and turned to Muammar al-Qaddafi of Libya and the Soviet Union for support.
In 1973, U.S. Ambassador Thomas Patrick Melady recommended that the United States reduce its presence in Uganda. Melady described Amin's regime as "racist, erratic and unpredictable, brutal, inept, bellicose, irrational, ridiculous, and militaristic".^[28] Accordingly, the United States closed its embassy in Kampala.
In June 1976, Idi Amin allowed an Air France airplane hijacked by two members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - External Operations (PFLP-EO) and two members of the German Revolutionäre Zellen to land at Entebbe Airport. There, the hijackers were joined by three more. Soon after, 156 hostages who did not hold Israeli passports were released and flown to safety, while 83 Jews and Israeli citizens, as well as 20 others who refused to abandon them, continued to be held hostage. In the subsequent Israeli rescue operation, Operation Entebbe, nearly all of the hostages were freed. Three hostages died and 10 were wounded; six hijackers, 45 Ugandan soldiers, and one Israeli soldier, Yoni Netanyahu, were killed. This incident further soured Uganda's international relations, leading Britain to close its High Commission in Uganda.^[29]
Uganda under Amin embarked on a large military build-up, which raised concerns in Kenya. Early in June 1975, Kenyan officials impounded a large convoy of Soviet-made arms en route to Uganda at the port of Mombasa. Tension between Uganda and Kenya reached its climax in February 1976 when Amin announced that he would investigate the possibility that parts of southern Sudan and western and central Kenya, up to within 32 km of Nairobi, were historically a part of colonial Uganda. The Kenyan Government responded with a stern statement that Kenya would not part with "a single inch of territory". Amin backed down after the Kenyan army deployed troops and armored personnel carriers along the Kenya-Uganda border.^[30]

Erratic behaviour

As the years went on, Amin became increasingly erratic and outspoken. In 1977, after Britain had broken diplomatic relations with his regime, Amin declared he had beaten the British and conferred on himself the decoration of CBE (Conqueror of the British Empire). Radio Uganda then read out the whole of his new title: "''His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor^[31] Idi Amin Dada, VC,^[32] DSO, MC, CBE.''". In 1971, Amin and Zaire's president Mobutu Sese Seko changed the names of Lake Albert and Lake Edward to Lake Mobutu Sese Seko and Lake Idi Amin Dada, respectively.^[33]
Foreign journalists considered Amin a somewhat comical, eccentric figure. In 1977, ''Time'' magazine called him a "killer and clown, big-hearted buffoon and strutting martinet". Amin became the subject of rumours and myths, including a widespread belief that he was a cannibal. Some of the unsubstantiated rumours, such as the mutilation of one of his wives, were spread and popularised by the 1980 film, ''Rise and Fall of Idi Amin''.^[34]

Deposition and exile

By 1978, the number of Amin's close associates had shrunk significantly, and he faced increasing dissent from within Uganda. After the killings of Luwum and ministers Oryema and Oboth Ofumbi in 1977, several of Amin's ministers defected or fled to exile."Not even an archbishop was spared bishop was spared", ''The Weekly Observer'', February 16, 2006 Later that year, after Amin's vice president, General Mustafa Adrisi, was injured in a car accident, troops loyal to him mutinied. Amin sent troops against the mutineers, some of whom had fled across the Tanzanian border. Amin accused Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere of waging war against Uganda, ordered the invasion of Tanzanian territory, and formally annexed a section of the Kagera Region across the boundary.
Nyerere mobilized the Tanzania People's Defence Force and counterattacked, joined by several groups of Ugandan exiles who had united as the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA). Amin's army retreated steadily, and despite military help from Libya's Muammar al-Gaddafi, he was forced to flee on April 11, 1979 when Kampala was captured. He escaped first to Libya and ultimately settled in Saudi Arabia.
Amin held that Uganda needed him and never expressed remorse for the abuses of his regime.Riccardo Orizio, ''Talk of the Devil: Encounters with Seven Dictators'', Walker & Company, 2004 (ISBN 0-8027-7692-2) In 1989, he attempted to return to Uganda, apparently to lead an armed group organised by Colonel Juma Oris. He reached Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), before Zairian President Mobutu forced him to return to Saudi Arabia.
On July 20, 2003, one of Idi Amin's wives, Madina, reported that he was in a coma and near death at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She pleaded with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to allow him to return to die in Uganda. Museveni replied that Amin would have to "answer for his sins the moment he was brought back."^[35] Idi Amin died in Saudi Arabia on August 16, 2003. He was buried in Ruwais Cemetery in Jeddah.^[36]

Family and associates

A polygamist, Idi Amin married at least five women, three of whom he divorced. He married his first and second wives, Malyamu and Kay, in 1966. The next year, he married Nora and Nalongo Madina in 1972. On March 26, 1974, he announced on Radio Uganda that he had divorced Malyamu, Nora and Kay.The life and loves of a tyrant, ''Daily Nation'', August 20, 2003^[37] Malyamu was arrested in Tororo on the Kenyan border in April 1974 and accused of attempting to smuggle a bolt of fabric into Kenya. She later moved to London.Idi Amin is dead, ''The Monitor'', August 17, 2003 Kay died on August 13, 1974, reportedly from an attempted surgical abortion performed by her lover Dr. Mbalu Mukasa (who himself committed suicide). Her body was found dismembered. This incident was an inspiration for a major part of the movie ''The Last King of Scotland''.^[38] In August 1975, during the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit meeting in Kampala, Amin married Sarah Kyolaba. Sarah's boyfriend, whom she was living with before she met Amin, vanished and was never heard from again. According to ''The Monitor'', Amin married a seventh wife a few months before his death in 2003.
Sources differ widely on the number of children Amin fathered; most say that he had 30 to 45.^[39] Until 2003, Taban Amin, Idi Amin's eldest son, was the leader of West Nile Bank Front (WBNF), a rebel group opposed to the government of Yoweri Museveni. In 2005, he was offered amnesty by Museveni, and in 2006, he was appointed Deputy Director General of the Internal Security Organisation.^[40] Another of Amin’s sons, Haji Ali Amin, ran for election as Chairman of Njeru Town Council (i.e., mayor) in 2002 but was not elected.^[41] In early 2007, the award-winning film ''The Last King of Scotland'', in which Forest Whitaker portrays Idi Amin, prompted one of his sons, Jaffar Amin, to speak out in his father's defense. Jaffar Amin said he was writing a book to counter his father's reputation.^[42]
On 3 August 2007, Faisal Wangita, one of Amin's sons, was convicted for playing a role in a murder in London. ^[43]
Among Amin's closest associates were the British-born Bob Astles, who is considered by many to have been a malign influence, and by others as a moderating presence.^[44] Isaac Malyamungu was an instrumental affiliate and one of the more feared officers in Amin's army.