{UAH} those of us who experienced Idd Amin’s rule first hand cannot forget the horror

By Richard Mulumba,

I was 9 years old in 1971 when Idd Amin came to power and 18 years when he was deposed in 1979. At first people were elated and welcomed him when he overthrew Dr. Obote in a military coup. Dr . Obote had ruled the country under a state of emergency , had abolished the 1962 independence constitution abolished kingdoms that were dear to some people and set up  his own constitution of 1967 without the consent of the people. At the time of the coup many opposition  politicians were in jail without trial.

By the time Amin left however close to half a million people had been killed extra judicially and the economy was in shambles. Basic commodities like sugar and soap were scarce and life was nasty short and brutish like in the historical natural state. People opposed to the regime were shot by firing squad in public (and so were some criminals I must add). Just before he was removed from power he had killed the Archbishop of the Anglican Church, the Inspector General of Police and a prominent minister in one fake car accident. You can imagine the horror and the shock we must have felt.

 I must point out though that a few individuals and groups benefitted from Amin's rule. These include the native business community to whom he allotted the business of the Indians after he expelled them (most of them ran the businesses to bankruptcy). Members of Amin's ethnicity and some moslems had also been favoured and so were most of the soldiers. These hardly knew the scarcity of commodities and the insecurity the rest of the country experienced.

While unleashing the terror onto the Ugandans and those foreigners unfortunate to cross his path, Amin identified with the pan African and pro Palestinian causes. This made him a hero to some people especially in Africa and the Arab world. Indeed some of his greatest buddies were the late Gaddhaffi and Yasser Arafat.
In short those of us who experienced Idd Amin's rule first hand cannot forget the horror and the economic deprivation we underwent while those that benefited from his rule and those who came after his rule are fascinated by his anti-western outlook and pro pan African speeches.

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Allaah gives the best to those who leave the choice to Him."And if Allah touches you with harm, none can remove it but He, and if He touches you with good, then He is Able to do all things." (6:17)

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