He got involved with the King’s African Rifle men in 1946.  He began as an assistant cook.  Next he was a corporal, then sergeant-major and platoon commander all by 1951.  Meanwhile he became the heavyweight boxing champion of Uganda!  This gave Amin popularity with the citizens and high officials. By 1959 Amin was promoted a warrant officer, ranked, “effendi” because they thought he had good potential of becoming a leader.  Between 1963 and 1964, he went from major to colonel then deputy commander of the army and air force.  He was one of only two Ugandans that was a commissioned officer.

The Prime Minister Obote of Uganda drove out King Mutesa, made himself president and promoted Amin to major-general and chief of the army and air force.  Amin found his own support, overthrew the prime minister and was the president and chief of the armed forces.  Immediately he killed the supporters of Obote called Acholi and Langi.  Many of his supporters were from his native tribe, Kakwa, and they spoke with the same dialect. This kept his closest supporters loyal. So he could get away with many crimes.

He lied to the people in order to gain trust.  He told them he would bring back the pride of the Uganda people.  He had the support of Brittan, the United States and Israel in 1971.  He had even fooled the United Nations, though many smaller countries would not openly support his regime.  In 1972 he declared that the country will be a country for the native Ugandans, a “black man’s country.”  He gave Asians 90 days to leave the country.  He expelled almost 80,000 Asians to leave the country.  He wanted all of Uganda’s economy in the hands of native Ugandans.  He cut off support of Israel and Brittan and allied with the Palestinian liberation movement.  He ordered an ethnic cleansing where those who did not support him or still supported Obote were killed.  He even killed people on live TV.  He was brutal in his killings; no one was safe.  He killed ordinary civilians, religious leaders and tribal leaders.  He killed anyone that might be a threat to his reign.   Soon the country was run by the military with 18,000 troops on his “security force.” East Germany helped Amin form his secret police. He was a big manipulator of his army giving his officers luxury items and gave his troops enough to stay satisfied. In 1975 he made himself president for life. The Soviet Union was his largest military supporter. Amin lead an attack on Tanzania, as a diversion from his own political reign beginning to crumble. During the next two weeks Amin, with the help of Radio Uganda, created a phony war. First he told his people that the Tanzanians were invading Uganda for their own ambitions and that he wanted peace. During this time Amin but all of his aided troops from Libya on the front lines, he then took all of their aid and used it for his own good. The Tanzanians lead a counter-attack on Amin and dethroned him to exile in Libya then to Saudi Arabia.  He reigned from 1971 to 1979 and in those years had 100,000 – 500,000 people killed.

Once the Tanzanians got into Uganda they let the world know about the horrific tragedies Amin placed on his people.  They found dead bodies and pictures of the brutality. Amin was brutal, but much of his brutality was overlooked or feared.  Even high officials overlooked horrific things he did before he went to power as president. Amin knew if he could keep his military happy he could do what ever he wanted; he bribed them!  He “paid” them off to keep quiet.

The mistake he made was kicking out the Indians and Pakistanis which were the working class in Uganda, therefore the economy crumbled.  He left his country in economic ruin, with no agriculture, closed factories, ruined businesses, mountains of debt and a river of dead bodies. The animals were also destroyed: 75% of elephants, 98% rhinos, 90% crocodiles, 80% lions and leopards, and many numerous bird species. All of his political allies outside the country withdrew support or money.  Amin’s reign was over.  In 2002 the Ugandans officially celebrated Amin’s downfall for the first time; the Ugandans lived in fear of him for so long that some people thought they might be killed if they celebrated his fall.

These were horrific things that Amin did: he lied, cheated, stole, and murdered in order to gain and keep his power. This is antihumanism at its worst!  He put himself in a position to say who lives and who dies in order to acquire power over people and a country. People look at him in a good ways and bad ways. Some say he was an amazing leader for Uganda and others, like me, say different. To do all these horrible things to gain power is beyond most people’s comprehension. We, the United States, even approved his government; we are at fault too. The world has seen leaders like this rise to power all the time, yet often we do nothing. When is the world going to step up and stop these things from happening before they get out-of-control. The countries that supported this or gave him aid should also be made responsible by rebuilding the country. In 2003 Amin died.  There will never be a holiday to honor him; instead rows of grave markers remind the Uganda people of his brutality.