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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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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.

Travelling through Uganda today, which I’ll come to shortly, after this briefly shocking history lesson, it’s amazing how well it’s recovered, for one could say it went through a pretty bad patch. All political activities were suspended, and over the next 8 years, the army killed over 300,000 Ugandans suspected of opposing the regime, sometimes with the use of sledgehammers by torturers in prisons and police stations - the screams often being heard around the clock from buildings in Kampala. First, Amin focused on a few tribes, wiping out entire villages at a whim, before turning his attention to the professionals that might have posed a threat to his regime - professors, lawyers, doctors, all dragged from their offices and never seen again.

He was kind enough to oust, rather than kill, the entire Asian community, though allowing them to leave with nothing but the clothes they wore, picking up the $1billion treasure trove of goods they left behind, to sell for guns and Mercedes. The inflation rate rose to 1000%, hospitals closed, cities became garbage dumps, factories ground to a half, and wildlife was gunned for food. The tourists ...