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Idi Amin: A byword for brutality
Kampala, Aug 16: Former dictator Idi Amin, who died today in a Saudi hospital, ruled Uganda in an eight-year orgy of slaughter and lunatic brutality that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
Kampala, Aug 16: Former dictator Idi Amin, who died today in a Saudi hospital, ruled Uganda in an eight-year orgy of slaughter and lunatic brutality that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
Amin did as much as any other African despot to stain the
continent with a reputation for bloodshed and backwardness,
killing more than 300,000 political rivals and ordinary
Ugandans and destroying the country`s economy.
As armed forces chief, Amin staged a coup on January 25, 1971 when President Milton Obote was out of the country and proclaimed himself head of state.
"Big daddy", as he became known, began by slaughtering Obote loyalists, but the killing quickly spread from the barracks to the entire country, and included an Anglican Archbishop, a Chief Justice and several cabinet ministers.
It was one of the most appalling reigns of terror anywhere, with Amin reputed to have fed the remains of victims to the crocodiles in lake Victoria and kept the heads of decapitated political rivals in his refrigerator.
Amin also drove out of the country about 80,000 Ugandans of Asian origin, saying God had commanded him to do so in a dream. He distributed their vast businesses to his cronies, who mismanaged them, leading to a phenomenal economic meltdown.
Because of Oboto`s pro-Communist leanings, many in the West, including former colonial power Britain, at first embraced Amin`s putsch and suspicions about foreign involvement linger to this day.
Amin`s reputation as a buffoonish butcher did not prevent him from strutting on the international stage bedecked with medals and braid. He once addressed the UN general assembly -- in the local Lugandan tongue rather than in English, which he said was the language of colonialists.
Among the many titles he conferred on himself was that of CBE -- "Conqueror" rather than "Commander of the British Empire", as well as conferring on himself a doctorate of law, declaring himself a field marshal and, in 1975, life president of Uganda.
At the height of his reign, fellow African leaders overlooked his blood-drenched rule and praised his anti-imperialism. He became head of the Organisation of African Unity in 1975.
When Palestinian commandos seized a French airliner carrying Israelis and forced it to land at Entebbe in 1976, Amin sided with the hijackers and allowed them to keep their hostages at the airport. The hostages were rescued in a daring raid by an elite Israeli assault force, in which several Ugandan soldiers and all the hijackers were killed.
The one leader prepared to stand up to Amin was President Julius Nyerere of neighbouring Tanzania. In 1978, Amin made the mistake of invading Tanzania. Nyerere counter-attacked with a force of Tanzanian troops and Ugandan exiles, culminating in the capture of Kampala after seven months, forcing Amin to flee in April 1979.
Amin was born in 1925 into the Muslim Kakwa tribe in Koboko in northwest Uganda, close to the borders of Zaire -- now the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan.
As armed forces chief, Amin staged a coup on January 25, 1971 when President Milton Obote was out of the country and proclaimed himself head of state.
"Big daddy", as he became known, began by slaughtering Obote loyalists, but the killing quickly spread from the barracks to the entire country, and included an Anglican Archbishop, a Chief Justice and several cabinet ministers.
It was one of the most appalling reigns of terror anywhere, with Amin reputed to have fed the remains of victims to the crocodiles in lake Victoria and kept the heads of decapitated political rivals in his refrigerator.
Amin also drove out of the country about 80,000 Ugandans of Asian origin, saying God had commanded him to do so in a dream. He distributed their vast businesses to his cronies, who mismanaged them, leading to a phenomenal economic meltdown.
Because of Oboto`s pro-Communist leanings, many in the West, including former colonial power Britain, at first embraced Amin`s putsch and suspicions about foreign involvement linger to this day.
Amin`s reputation as a buffoonish butcher did not prevent him from strutting on the international stage bedecked with medals and braid. He once addressed the UN general assembly -- in the local Lugandan tongue rather than in English, which he said was the language of colonialists.
Among the many titles he conferred on himself was that of CBE -- "Conqueror" rather than "Commander of the British Empire", as well as conferring on himself a doctorate of law, declaring himself a field marshal and, in 1975, life president of Uganda.
At the height of his reign, fellow African leaders overlooked his blood-drenched rule and praised his anti-imperialism. He became head of the Organisation of African Unity in 1975.
When Palestinian commandos seized a French airliner carrying Israelis and forced it to land at Entebbe in 1976, Amin sided with the hijackers and allowed them to keep their hostages at the airport. The hostages were rescued in a daring raid by an elite Israeli assault force, in which several Ugandan soldiers and all the hijackers were killed.
The one leader prepared to stand up to Amin was President Julius Nyerere of neighbouring Tanzania. In 1978, Amin made the mistake of invading Tanzania. Nyerere counter-attacked with a force of Tanzanian troops and Ugandan exiles, culminating in the capture of Kampala after seven months, forcing Amin to flee in April 1979.
Amin was born in 1925 into the Muslim Kakwa tribe in Koboko in northwest Uganda, close to the borders of Zaire -- now the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan.
Bureau Report