The story
On January 25, 1971, Major General Idi Amin led soldiers who overthrew President Milton Obote while Obote was away at a Commonwealth conference in Singapore. Amin had been army commander and had fallen out with Obote. He declared himself president, and many Ugandans and Western governments at first welcomed him.
His rule soon became brutal. In August 1972, Amin ordered the expulsion of Uganda's South Asian community, roughly 50,000 to 80,000 people, giving them 90 days to leave, and took over their businesses. The economy collapsed, and the army and secret police killed political opponents, members of ethnic groups seen as loyal to Obote, and others. Estimates of the dead run from about 100,000 to 300,000, with some higher. Amin invaded Tanzania in 1978, and Tanzanian troops and Ugandan exiles took Kampala in April 1979. Amin fled and died in Saudi Arabia in 2003.
Why it mattered
- Amin's rule destroyed Uganda's economy and killed many people, with long effects on its politics.
- The expulsion of South Asians reshaped Uganda's economy and sent a diaspora to Britain, Canada and elsewhere.
- His fall by Tanzanian invasion led to the return of Obote and then to the war that brought Yoweri Museveni to power in 1986.
Sources
- Idi Amin Britannica
- Uganda: Violations of Human Rights (thematic report 1974) International Commission of Jurists
Drafted by AI (Claude) from the sources above and checked against them by AI; no historian has reviewed this page. Spot a mistake? Suggest a correction. How pages are made
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