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The hell came to the fore under Idi Amin. Greed defines much of African politics and it was under him that Uganda rapidly deteriorated into chaos; a situation that is still mirrored today in many African countries. Uganda had just been on the verge of a civil war, when Dr Obote, Prime Minister of Uganda in the 1960s, carried out a coup to abolish the Bugandan monarchy, before setting about gaining absolute rule a few years later. Amin, then the Army Chief of Start, started to show himself for who he was when, accused by a Colonol Okoya of stealing government funds, this colonel was mysteriously shot dead with his wife. Amin bided his time, and when Obote went to Singapore, another coup was arranged, leaving Amin in power, a move ironically endorsed by the naïve British Government. The reign of terror began.

There's something about Uganda

Simon Wadsworth
2006-09-04 10:43:49

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decided it was time to leave too.

Due to the slightly bad economic situation, Amin was forced to delegate more and more power to the provincial governors, who became virtual warlords, and the only outside ally was Colonel Gadaffi of Libya, who provided guns and a little money, though not enough to help pay the soldiers. As a result, Amin needed a diversion to overcome
the restless army and intertribal fighting that had broken out. For an insane man, what better way to do this than decide to start a war with Tanzania, for pretty much no reason?

After an initial worry, Tanzania eventually won with the help of Ugandan Liberation groups, though it took half a year to do so. Kampala fell without a fight, and Idi Amin fled to Libya, before being thrown out there also, to live in Saudi Arabia to this day. The war cost Tanzania $500million, and no other country has ever made a contribution, including Uganda. Consequently, back into chaos Uganda went, as this time, it was the Tanzanian soldiers that turned on the country - looting shops at gunpoint, hijacking trucks and killing more wildlife. Gangs of armed bandits roamed free killing at will, and hospitals once again closed.

Now things get complicated for a while. Tanzania installed one President for Uganda, but changed its mind and installed another President, Binaisa. However, a couple of senior Army members opposed a few of his policies and so placed Binaisa under house arrest. The army then set about co-ordinating a new election, which was won by Obote (remember him from the 1st paragraph?) who had returned to a warm welcome by forgetful Ugandans, although the election was still naturally rigged.

So here we go again - favouring certain tribes, Obote set up ‘The State Research Bureau’ which, between you and me, was the Secret Police. Prisons filled up and the screams began again. Mass graves were unearthed, Western journalists expelled and absolute rule was once ...