Idi Amin: The third President of Uganda

Idi Amin Dada (May 17, 1925 – August 16, 2003) known as Idi Amin, was the third President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He is often described as a military dictator.

Idi Amin Dada:

Third President of Uganda

In office

25 January 1971 – 11 April 1979

8 years, 76 days

Milton Obote

Personal information

Birth

17 May 1925

Kampala, Uganda

Death

16 August 2003 (age 78)

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Burial place

Jeddah

Residence

Jeddah (1980–2003)

Citizenship

Uganda (–1979)

Saudi Arabia (1979–1989)

Uganda Protectorate

Uganda

Spouse

Sarah Kyolaba (1975–1982)

Work life

Profession

Politician, officer, military affairs

Party

Independent politician

Languages

English, Swahili

Field of work

Politics 

Sports

Boxing

Military service

Branch

British Army

Rank

Field Marshal (1975–)

Major General

Battles and wars

Mau Mau Uprising, 1971 Ugandan coup, Uganda–Tanzania War

He joined the British colonial military, specifically the King's African Rifles, which was active in East Africa at the time. Amin later rose to the rank of Major General and took command of the Ugandan Army in 1964. Idi Amin staged a military coup in January 1971, deposing President Milton Obote. Idi Amin's rule was marked by human rights abuses, political repression, racial discrimination, extrajudicial executions and the expulsion of Asians from Uganda. The death toll during his rule is unknown. Estimates by international observers and human rights organizations range from 100,000 to 500,000.

In 1975-76 Amin became chairman of the Organisation of African Unity, a pan-African group that aimed to promote solidarity among African nations. In 1977-79 Uganda was admitted to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

Nicknamed the "Last King of Scotland" for his great admiration for Scotland and his attempt to emulate the protocols of royal families, his reign was marred by intense civil strife between Uganda's different ethnic groups and saw constant violence and assassinations of political rivals. He was accused by Western powers of dictatorship, and the death toll during his rule is estimated at between 80,000 and 500,000 according to Western estimates, although other organizations doubt this as part of the politicization of "propaganda" against him.

Idi Amin, then President of Uganda, wearing Arab dress, and King Khalid in Riyadh in 1979.

Idi Amin at one point in his rule carried out what he believed to be a series of economic reforms, including the decision to expel the Indians who had come to the country with the British and had begun to establish a group of commercial activities, businesses and various projects, and had a hand in the Ugandan economy. General Amin expelled them and most of them chose Britain as an alternative destination to Uganda, which welcomed them and granted them facilities in a case that later became known in Britain as the Ugandan Indian case. He was expelled to Saudi Arabia after the fall of his rule and lived in the city of Jeddah, where he died in 2003.

Early life:

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Idi Amin did not write an autobiography, nor did he allow his life to be written or detailed in any official or public form. There are differences regarding the date and place of his birth. Most biographical sources state that he was born either in northern Uganda in the town of Koboko or in Kampala around 1925.[a] Other unconfirmed sources state that he was born in 1923 or as late as 1928. His son Hussein stated that his father was born in Kampala in 1928.[14]

Alfred Goedediko, a scholar at Makerere University, states that Idi Amin's father was Andreas Nyaber (1889–1976), a member of the Kakwa ethnic group who converted to Islam in 1910 after being a Roman Catholic and changed his name to Amin Dada. He named his eldest son after him.  Idi Amin left his father at an early age and was raised by his mother's family in a rural farming town in northwestern Uganda. Guiddico also states that Amin Idi's mother, Asa Atti (1904–1970), was a Lugbara ethnicity and a traditional herbalist who treated members of the Ugandan royal family. [15] Some sources have described Idi Amin as being of mixed Kakwa-Nubian descent. [16][b]

Amin enrolled in an Islamic school in Bombo in central Uganda in 1941 and after studying for a few years left school, working various odd jobs before being conscripted into the army by a British colonial army officer. 

#Africa #Uganda