View source for Idi Amin

{{Short description|President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = [[His Excellency]] [[President for Life]], [[Field Marshal]] [[Hajji|Al-Hadji]] [[Doctor of Laws|Doctor]]<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-07-17 |title=The rise of inflated job titles |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18855099 |access-date=2025-10-17 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>
| name                = Idi Amin
| birth_name          = Awon'go Idi Amin Dada
| image               = Idi Amin at UN (United Nations, New York) gtfy.00132 (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Amin in [[UNGA]], 1975
| order               = 3rd
| office              = President of Uganda
| term_start          = 25 January 1971
| term_end            = 11 April 1979
| vicepresident       = [[Mustafa Adrisi]]
| predecessor         = [[Milton Obote]]
| successor           = [[Yusuf Lule]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=y|1928|05|30}}<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Leopold |first=Mark |url=https://yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300260885/idi-amin/ |title=Idi Amin: The Story of Africa's Icon of Evil |date=2021 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-15439-9 |location=New Haven (Conn.)}}</ref>
| birth_place         = [[Nakasero|Nakasero Hill]], [[Kampala]], Uganda
| death_date          = {{death date and age |2003|08|16|1928|05|30|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Jeddah]], Saudi Arabia
| constituency        = 
| party               = 
| spouse              = At least 6, including:
{{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Malyamu|1966|1974|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|[[Kay Adroa|Kay]]|1966|1974|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Nora|1967|1974|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Madina|1972 || end=died}}
* {{marriage|[[Sarah Kyolaba]]|1975}}
}}
| children            = 43 (claimed)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nakajubi |first=Gloria |date=15 July 2015 |title=Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's widow Sarah Kyolaba dies in the UK aged 59 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ugandan-dictator-idi-amins-widow-sarah-kyolaba-dies-in-the-uk-aged-59-10322083.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925164429/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ugandan-dictator-idi-amins-widow-sarah-kyolaba-dies-in-the-uk-aged-59-10322083.html |archive-date=25 September 2015 |access-date=21 September 2015 |work=[[The Independent]]}}</ref>
| relatives           = {{Cslist| [[Mustafa Adrisi]] | [[Isaac Maliyamungu]] | [[Juma Butabika]] | [[Isaac Lumago]]}}
| signature           = Idi_Amin_Signature.png
| nickname            = 
| allegiance          = {{plainlist|
* [[British Empire]] (1946–1962)
* [[Uganda]] (1962–1979)
}}
| branch              = {{plainlist|
* [[King's African Rifles]] (1946–1962)
* Uganda Army (1962–1979)
}}
| serviceyears        = 1946–1979
| rank                = {{plainlist|
* Lieutenant (British Empire)
* [[Field marshal (Uganda)]]
}}
| commands            = Commander-in-Chief of the Uganda Army
| battles             = {{plainlist|
* [[Mau Mau Uprising]]
* [[1971 Ugandan coup d'état]]
* [[1972 invasion of Uganda]]
* [[Uganda–Tanzania War]]
}}
| resting_place       = Ruwais Cemetery
}}

{{Idi Amin sidebar}}
'''Idi Amin Dada Oumee'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|iː|d|i|_|ɑː|ˈ|m|iː|n|,_|ˈ|ɪ|d|i|_|-|audio=En-us-Idi Amin from Uganda pronunciation (Voice of America).ogg}}, {{IPAc-en|UKalso|-|_|æ|ˈ|m|iː|n}}}} (30 May 1928{{snd}}16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third [[president of Uganda]] from 1971 until [[Uganda–Tanzania War|his overthrow]] in 1979. He ruled as a [[Military dictatorship|military dictator]] and is considered one of the most brutal [[Despotism|despots]] in modern world history.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Boddy-Evans |first=Alistair |title=Biography of Idi Amin, Brutal Dictator of Uganda |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/biography-idi-amin-dada-43590 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716050319/https://www.thoughtco.com/biography-idi-amin-dada-43590 |archive-date=16 July 2019 |access-date=16 July 2019 |website=ThoughtCo |language=en}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=August 2025}}

Amin was born to a [[Kakwa people|Kakwa]] father and [[Lugbara people|Lugbara]] mother. In 1946, he joined the [[King's African Rifles]] (KAR) of the [[British Colonial Army]] as a cook. He rose to the rank of [[lieutenant]], taking part in [[British Empire|British]] actions against Somali rebels and then the [[Mau Mau rebellion|Mau Mau Uprising]] in [[Kenya Colony|Kenya]]. [[Uganda]] gained independence from the [[United Kingdom]] in 1962, and Amin remained in the [[Uganda Army (1962–1971)|army]], rising to the position of deputy army commander in 1964 and being appointed commander two years later. He became aware that Ugandan president [[Milton Obote]] was planning to arrest him for misappropriating army funds, so he launched the [[1971 Ugandan coup d'état]] and declared himself president.

During his years in power, Amin shifted from being a pro-Western ruler enjoying considerable support from Israel to being backed by [[Libyan Arab Jamahiriya|Libya]]'s [[Muammar Gaddafi]], [[Zaire]]'s [[Mobutu Sese Seko]], the [[Soviet Union]], and [[East Germany]].<ref name="libya1">{{Cite journal |last=Roland Anthony Oliver, Anthony Atmore |date=1967 |title=Africa Since 1800 |journal=The Geographical Journal |volume=133 |issue=2 |page=272 |bibcode=1967GeogJ.133Q.230M |doi=10.2307/1793302 |issn=0016-7398 |jstor=1793302}}</ref><ref name="ussr1">{{Cite book |last=Dale C. Tatum |title=Who influenced whom? |page=177}}</ref><ref name="gdr1">Gareth M. Winrow. ''The Foreign Policy of the GDR in Africa'', p. 141.</ref> In 1972, Amin [[Expulsion of Asians from Uganda|expelled Asians]], a majority of whom were [[Indians in Uganda|Indian-Ugandans]], leading India to sever diplomatic relations with his regime.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Subramanian |first=Archana |date=6 August 2015 |title=Asian expulsion |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/kids/read-about-how-idi-amins-vengeance-drives-the-asian-community-out-of-uganda/article7507451.ece |work=The Hindu}}</ref> In 1975, Amin assumed [[Chairperson of the Organisation of African Unity|chairmanship of]] the [[Organisation of African Unity]] (OAU), an [[International organization|intergovernmental organization]] designed to promote solidarity among African states<ref name="Byword">{{Cite news |date=21 July 2003 |title=Idi Amin: A Byword for Brutality |url=http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1390595,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605070641/http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0%2C%2C2-11-1447_1390595%2C00.html |archive-date=5 June 2008 |access-date=13 February 2012 |work=News24}}</ref> (an annually rotating role). Uganda was a member of the [[United Nations Commission on Human Rights]] from 1977 to 1979.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gershowitz |first=Suzanne |date=20 March 2007 |title=The Last King of Scotland, Idi Amin, and the United Nations |url=http://www.ypfp.org/the_last_king_of_scotland_idi_amin_and_the_united_nations |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606025442/http://www.ypfp.org/the_last_king_of_scotland_idi_amin_and_the_united_nations |archive-date=6 June 2009 |access-date=8 August 2009}}</ref> The United Kingdom broke diplomatic relations with Uganda in 1977, and Amin declared that he had defeated the [[British Empire|British]] and added "[[Order of the British Empire|CBE]]" to his title for "Conqueror of the British Empire".<ref name="Keatley">{{Cite web |last=Keatley |first=Patrick |date=18 August 2003 |title=Idi Amin |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/aug/18/guardianobituaries |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727231321/http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2003/aug/18/guardianobituaries |archive-date=27 July 2013 |access-date=16 March 2020 |website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

As Amin's rule progressed into the late 1970s, there was increased unrest against his persecution of certain ethnic groups and political dissidents, along with Uganda's very poor international standing due to Amin's support for [[PFLP-EO]] and [[Revolutionary Cells (RZ)|RZ]] hijackers in 1976, leading to Israel's [[Operation Entebbe]]. He then attempted to annex [[Tanzania]]'s [[Kagera Region]] in 1978. Tanzanian President [[Julius Nyerere]] ordered his troops to [[Uganda–Tanzania War|invade Uganda]] in response. Tanzanian Army and rebel forces successfully [[Fall of Kampala|captured Kampala]] in 1979 and ousted Amin from power. Amin went into exile, first in Libya, then [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]], and finally in [[Saudi Arabia]], where he lived until his death in 2003.<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 August 2003 |title=Dictator Idi Amin dies |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3155925.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309152213/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3155925.stm |archive-date=9 March 2021 |access-date=10 May 2020 |via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

Amin's rule was characterized by rampant [[human rights abuse]]s including [[political repression]] and [[extrajudicial killing]]s as well as [[nepotism]], corruption, and gross economic mismanagement. International observers and [[human rights]] groups estimate that between 100,000<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ullman |first=Richard H. |date=April 1978 |title=Human Rights and Economic Power: The United States Versus Idi Amin |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/uganda/1978-04-01/human-rights-and-economic-power-united-states-versus-idi-amin |url-status=live |journal=Foreign Affairs |volume=56 |issue=3 |pages=529–543 |doi=10.2307/20039917 |jstor=20039917 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418220949/http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/29141/richard-h-ullman/human-rights-and-economic-power-the-united-states-versus-idi-ami |archive-date=18 April 2015 |access-date=24 October 2018 |quote=The most conservative estimates by informed observers hold that President Idi Amin Dada and the terror squads operating under his loose direction have killed 100,000 Ugandans in the seven years he has held power.}}</ref> and 500,000 people were killed under his regime. His brutality and atrocities towards Ugandans has given him the nickname, "The Butcher of Uganda".<ref name=Keatley/>

== Early life ==
Virtually all retellings of Amin's early life are contradictory, as he did not write an [[autobiography]] and never authorized a written account of his life.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="okadameri">{{Cite news |last=O'Kadameri |first=Billie |date=1 September 2003 |title=Separate fact from fiction in Amin stories |url=http://www.mail-archive.com/ugandanet@kym.net/msg06472.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001160505/http://www.mail-archive.com/ugandanet@kym.net/msg06472.html |archive-date=1 October 2012 |access-date=8 May 2010 |work=[[Daily Monitor|The Monitor]]}}</ref> British governmental records put Amin's birth year in 1925; however, no records were kept for native Ugandans at the time.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="Keatley" /> In a 1972 interview with [[Judith Hare, Countess of Listowel|Judith Hare]], Amin gives his birthplace as the village of [[Koboko]] and his age as 46, which would put his birth year as 1926. In a book published in 1977 by [[Little, Brown and Company]] and written by a British advisor in [[Uganda]] using the [[pseudonym]] David Gwyn, Amin was born in [[Buganda]] with his age given as 48, placing his birth year in 1928. The most comprehensive biography of Amin comes from his family based on oral tradition, which has some authority but its details ultimately cannot be confirmed. Family tradition and Saudi authorities in Jeddah puts his birth date as 10 [[Dhu al-Hijja]] 1346 in the [[Islamic calendar]] (30 May 1928 in the Gregorian Calendar).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Elliott |first=Chris |date=30 November 2014 |title=Idi Amin's son complains about the Guardian's obituary notice |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/30/idi-amin-son-complaint-guardian-obituary |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141201001507/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/30/idi-amin-son-complaint-guardian-obituary |archive-date=1 December 2014 |access-date=1 December 2014 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref><ref name=":3" />

=== Early childhood and family ===
[[File:NakaseroMarket.jpg|thumb|[[Nakasero|Nakasero Hill]] in [[Kampala]], the district where Amin was reportedly born according to his family|244x244px]]
According to Amin's family, Ugandan oral tradition, and his Saudi death certificate, Idi Amin Dada Oumee was born on 30 May 1928 around 4 a.m. in his father's workplace, the Shimoni Police Barracks in [[Nakasero|Nakasero Hill]], [[Kampala]].<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=de Montesquiou |first=Jean-Louis |url=https://doi.org/10.3917/perri.monte.2022.01 |title=Amin Dada |publisher=Perrin |year=2022 |isbn=9782262074739 |location=Paris |pages=27–35 |chapter=Amin avant Amin |doi=10.3917/perri.monte.2022.01 |chapter-url=https://www.cairn.info/amin-dada--9782262074739-page-27.htm}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite AV media |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=kywAJWW7ais |title=IDI AMIN: A Polarizing Legacy |date=9 April 2019 |last=Mutaizibwa |first=Emmanuel |type=Television production |publisher=[[NTV Uganda]]}}</ref><ref name="monitor_01012004" /> He was given the name Idi after his birth on the Muslim holiday of [[Eid al-Adha]].<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":3" /> According to Fred Guweddeko, a researcher at [[Makerere University]], Amin's birth name was Idi Awo-Ango Angoo.<ref name="monitor_01012004" /> There is disagreement on the meaning of the name "Dada", with some arguing that it meant "sister" or "effeminate" in [[Swahili language|Kiswahili]], but most sources agree that "Dada" was a clan within the Kakwa tribe which was observed over thirteen generations.<ref name="okadameri" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" />

He was the third son of Amin Dada Nyabira Tomuresu (1889–1976), an ethnic [[Kakwa people|Kakwa]], and his second wife, Aisha Chumaru Aate (1904–1970), a [[Lugbara people|Lugbara]].<ref name="monitor_01012004" /><ref name=":3" /> His father was [[Infant baptism|christened]] as a [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] and born with the name Andreas Nyabira Tomuresu. According to British journalist [[David Martin (journalist)|David Martin]], Nyabira spent most of his life in [[South Sudan]].<ref name=":3" /> He converted to [[Islam]] in 1910 after being conscripted as a [[bugle]]r by the colonial British army under his uncle, the [[Kakwa people|Kakwa]] tribal leader Sultan Ali Kenyi Dada as a six-year-old [[Child soldiers in Uganda|child soldier]] and was given the name Amin Dada.<ref name="monitor_01012004" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":3" /> He joined the [[Uganda National Police|Protectorate Police Force]] in Kampala's Nsambia Police Barracks in 1913.<ref name=":3" />

Nyabira was forcibly conscripted into the [[History of the British Army|British]] [[King's African Rifles]] (KAR) in 1914 where he fought in the [[World War I|First World War]] during the [[East African campaign (World War I)|East African campaign]] in [[Tanganyika Territory|Tanganyika]] before being honorably discharged in 1921 and given a plot of land in [[Arua|Arua District]]. The same year, he joined the Protectorate Police Force in the Nsambia Police Barracks prior to being transferred to the Shimoni Police Barracks in 1928, where Amin was born according to his family. He was transferred to the Kololo Police Barracks and retired from the police force in 1931 and worked at the Office of the Resident District Commissioner in Arua District.<ref name=":3" />

His mother, Aisha Aate, was born to a Kakwa mother and Lugbara father. By all accounts, Aate was a traditional healer, herbalist, and a midwife.<ref name="monitor_01012004" /> Ten years before Amin's birth, Aate joined the [[Allah Water]] (also known as Yakani) movement, which was an anti-colonial [[alternative medicine]] congregation centered on a "water of Yakan" that was infused with a psychedelic [[Narcissus (plant)|daffodil]] plant locally known as Kamiojo, described as the "LSD of Central Africa". The movement was repressed by British colonial authorities, who had judged it as rebellion.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Middleton |first=John |date=1963 |title=The Yakan or Allah Water Cult Among the Lugbara |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2844335 |journal=The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland |volume=93 |issue=1 |pages=80–108 |doi=10.2307/2844335 |issn=0307-3114 |jstor=2844335|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hansen |first=Holger Bernt |date=1991 |title=Pre-Colonial Immigrants and Colonial Servants. The Nubians in Uganda Revisited |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/722844 |journal=African Affairs |volume=90 |issue=361 |pages=559–580 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a098469 |issn=0001-9909 |jstor=722844}}</ref> Despite being largely described as a cult, Amin's family claims that Aate was a priestess in the "Yakanye Order" which they explained as a "secret African society", of which Idi Amin was also a member, that used "sacred water and other mystical powers" for warfare.<ref name=":3" />

According to Amin's family, Aate had cured Irene Drusilla Namaganda, then Queen of Buganda and wife of [[Daudi Cwa II of Buganda]], of her infertility. Aate's high-ranking role in the Allah Water movement allegedly gained the interest of the [[Buganda]]n royal family and her alleged connection to the family led to rumours of Amin's biological father being Daudi Chwa II.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /> These rumours were reportedly spread by Nyabira's childless senior wife, who was spiteful of Aate bearing two children.<ref name=":3" />

According to Amin's family, Idi Amin was given the title Awon'go ({{Lit|noise}}), in reference to rumours about his alleged paternity. Idi was reportedly chosen to take a 'paternity test' as an infant by tribal elders, which involved abandoning him for four days in a forest near Mount Liru in [[Koboko]] where they returned to find Amin still alive. The elders attributed this apparent miracle to Nakan, a sacred seven-headed snake in Kakwa folk religion.<ref name=":3" /> His brother and sister died in 1932, when Idi was four years old.<ref name="monitor_01012004" />

Amin's parents divorced when he was four, and most accounts suggest that he moved in with his mother's family in 1944 in the rural farming town of Mawale Parish, [[Luweero District]], in north-western Uganda.{{sfn|Hansen|2013|p=85}}<ref name="monitor_01012004" /> The divorce of his parents was reportedly due to the lasting rumours regarding Idi's paternity, which angered his mother.<ref name=":5" /> Despite this, his family insists that he moved with his father per Muslim tradition in Tanganyika Parish, Arua District, while his mother continued to practice healing in Buganda.<ref name=":3" />

=== Boyhood and education ===
While living with his mother's relatives, Amin reportedly worked as a [[Goat farming|goat farmer]] from ages eight to ten.<ref name="monitor_01012004" /> In 1938, he moved to the home of Sheikh Ahmed Hussein in the nearby town of [[Semuto]] and began [[Hafiz (Quran)|memorizing the Quran]] through recitation until he was 12.<ref name="monitor_01012004" /> In 1940, Amin moved to [[Bombo, Uganda|Bombo]] and lived with his maternal uncle, Yusuf Tanaboo.<ref name="monitor_01012004" /> He attempted to register for [[primary school]] but was rejected, this was reportedly due to Amin's paternal [[Nubians|Nubian]] heritage.<ref name="monitor_01012004" />

The same year, Amin was injured while participating in Nubian riots against discrimination at [[Makerere University]] in [[Wandegeya]].<ref name="monitor_01012004" /> He was enrolled in the Garaya [[madrasa]] in Bombo and continued memorizing the Quran under Mohammed Al Rajab until 1944, and reportedly won honours in recitation in 1943.<ref name="monitor_01012004" /> Amin was conscripted by the colonial army alongside fifteen other students before being discharged for being underage.<ref name="monitor_01012004" />

In 1945, he moved to the Kiyindi Parish in [[Bwaise|Bwaise Parish]] and worked different odd jobs, including a stint as a doorman and concierge assistant at the [[Grand Imperial Hotel]] in Kampala.<ref name="monitor_01012004">{{Cite web |last=Guweddeko |first=Fred |date=12 June 2007 |title=Rejected then taken in by dad; a timeline |url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/specialincludes/ugprsd/amin/articles/index.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070612053237/http://www.monitor.co.ug/specialincludes/ugprsd/amin/articles/index.php |archive-date=12 June 2007 |access-date=8 August 2009 |website=[[Daily Monitor|The Monitor]]}}</ref>

== King's African Rifles ==
Amin joined the King's African Rifles (KAR) in 1946 as an assistant cook, while at the same time receiving military training until 1947.<ref name=Keatley/><ref name="britannica">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Idi Amin |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9007180 |access-date=8 August 2009 |date=19 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070314142415/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9007180/Idi-Amin |archive-date=14 March 2007}}</ref> In later life he falsely claimed to have served in the [[Burma Campaign]] of [[World War II]].<ref name=Keatley/><ref name="portrait">{{Cite AV media |title=General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait |publisher=Le Figaro Films |year=1974 |ISBN=0-7800-2507-5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bay |first=Austin |date=20 August 2003 |title=Why Didn't Amin Rot and Die in Jail? |url=http://www.strategypage.com/on_point/20030820.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101209233911/http://www.strategypage.com/on_point/20030820.aspx |archive-date=9 December 2010 |access-date=8 August 2009 |work=Strategy Page}}</ref> He was transferred to Kenya for infantry service as a private in 1947, and served in the 21st KAR infantry battalion in [[Gilgil]], [[Kenya Colony]] until 1949. That year, his unit was deployed to northern Kenya to fight against [[Shifta War#background|Somali rebels]]. In 1952, his brigade was deployed against the [[Mau Mau rebellion|Mau Mau rebels]] in Kenya. He was promoted to corporal the same year, then to sergeant in 1953.<ref name="monitor_01012004"/>

In 1959, Amin was made [[Effendi|Effendi Class 2]] (Warrant Officer),<ref name="gazette"/> the highest possible rank for a black soldier in the KAR. Amin returned to Uganda the same year and received a short-service commission as a lieutenant on 15 July 1961, becoming one of the first two Ugandans to become commissioned officers.<ref name="gazette">{{London Gazette|issue=42461|supp=y |page=6682 |date=15 September 1961 }}</ref> He was assigned to quell the cattle rustling between Uganda's [[Karamojong people|Karamojong]] and Kenya's [[Turkana people|Turkana]] nomads.<ref name="monitor_01012004"/> According to researcher Holger Bernt Hansen, Amin's outlook, behavior and strategies of communication were strongly influenced by his experiences in the colonial military. This included his direct and hands-on leadership style which would eventually contribute to his popularity among certain parts of Ugandan society.{{sfn|Hansen|1977|p=94}}

== Rise in the Uganda Army ==
In 1962, following Uganda's independence from the [[United Kingdom]], Amin was promoted to captain and then, in 1963, to major. He was appointed Deputy Commander of the Army in 1964 and, the following year, to Commander of the Army.<ref name="monitor_01012004" /> In 1970, he was promoted to commander of all the armed forces.<ref name="britishcouncil">{{Cite web |date=2 February 1971 |title=General Idi Amin overthrows Ugandan government |url=http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-history-amin.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070225004054/http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-history-amin.htm |archive-date=25 February 2007 |access-date=8 August 2009 |publisher=British Council}}</ref>

Amin was an athlete during his time in both the British and Uganda Army. At {{height|m=1.93}} tall and powerfully built, he was the [[Ugandan]] light heavyweight boxing champion from 1951 to 1960, as well as a swimmer. Amin was also a formidable rugby forward,<ref name="Scotsman">{{Cite news |last=Bridgland |first=Fred |date=16 August 2003 |title=Idi Amin |url=http://news.scotsman.com/idiamin/Idi-Amin.2453742.jp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110918181953/http://news.scotsman.com/idiamin/Idi-Amin.2453742.jp |archive-date=18 September 2011 |access-date=8 August 2009 |work=Scotsman |location=Edinburgh}}</ref><ref name="CainGrowden">Cain, Nick and Growden, Greg: "Chapter 21: Ten Peculiar Facts about Rugby" in ''Rugby Union for Dummies'' (2nd Edition), p. 294 (pub: John Wiley and Sons, [[Chichester]], England) {{ISBN|978-0470035375}}</ref> although one officer said of him: "Idi Amin is a splendid type and a good (rugby) player, but virtually bone from the neck up, and needs things explained in words of one letter".<ref name="CainGrowden" /><ref name="Scotsman2">{{Cite news |last=Johnston |first=Ian |date=17 August 2003 |title=Death of a despot, buffoon and killer |url=http://news.scotsman.com/idiamin/Death-of-a-despot-buffoon.2453405.jp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110121064206/http://news.scotsman.com/idiamin/Death-of-a-despot-buffoon.2453405.jp |archive-date=21 January 2011 |access-date=24 August 2009 |work=Scotsmanb |location=Edinburgh}}</ref> In the 1950s, he played for Nile RFC.<ref name="RugbyDis">Cotton, p. 111</ref>

There is a frequently repeated urban myth that he was selected as a replacement by the [[East Africa rugby union team]] for their [[1955 British Lions tour to South Africa|1955 tour]] match against the [[British and Irish Lions|British Lions]].<ref name="CainGrowden" /><ref name="RugbyDis" /> Amin, however, does not appear in the team photograph or on the official team list.<ref>Campbell, M. and Cohen, E.J. (1960) ''Rugby Football in East Africa, 1909–1959''. Published by the Rugby Football Union of East Africa</ref>

[[File:Idi Amin - Levi Eshkol - Entebbe 1966-06-12.jpg|thumb|left|Amin (centre-left) as chief of staff during a visit of [[Israel]]i [[Prime Minister of Israel|Prime Minister]] [[Levi Eshkol]] (centre) in 1966 ]]

In 1965, [[Prime Minister of Uganda|Prime Minister]] [[Milton Obote]] and Amin were implicated in a deal to smuggle ivory and gold into Uganda from the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]. The deal, as later alleged by General Nicholas Olenga, an associate of the former Congolese leader [[Patrice Lumumba]], was part of an arrangement to help troops opposed to the Congolese government trade ivory and gold for arms supplies secretly smuggled to them by Amin. In 1966, the [[Parliament of Uganda|Ugandan Parliament]] demanded an investigation. Obote imposed a new constitution abolishing the ceremonial presidency held by [[Kabaka of Buganda|Kabaka]] (King) [[Mutesa II of Buganda]] and declared himself executive president. He promoted Amin to colonel and army commander. Amin led [[Battle of Mengo Hill|an attack]] on the Kabaka's palace and forced Mutesa into exile to the United Kingdom, where he remained until his death in 1969.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Country Studies: Uganda: Independence: The Early Years |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ugtoc.html#ug0159 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716190740/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ugtoc.html#ug0159 |archive-date=16 July 2012 |access-date=8 August 2009 |website=Federal Research Division |publisher=United States Library of Congress}}</ref><ref name="bookrags">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2005 |title=Idi Amin Dada Biography |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of World Biography |publisher=Thomson Gale |url=http://www.bookrags.com/biography/idi-amin-dada |access-date=20 March 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519191543/http://www.bookrags.com/biography/idi-amin-dada/ |archive-date=19 May 2011}}</ref>

Amin began recruiting members of Kakwa, Lugbara, [[South Sudanese]], and other ethnic groups from the [[West Nile sub-region|West Nile]] area bordering [[South Sudan]]. The South Sudanese had been residents in [[Uganda]] since the early 20th century, having come from South Sudan to serve the colonial army. Many African ethnic groups in northern Uganda inhabit both Uganda and South Sudan; allegations persist that Amin's army consisted mainly of South Sudanese soldiers.<ref name="Anyanya">{{Cite web |last=Nantulya |first=Paul |year=2001 |title=Exclusion, Identity and Armed Conflict: A Historical Survey of the Politics of Confrontation in Uganda with Specific Reference to the Independence Era |url=http://www.kas.org.za/Publications/SeminarReports/PoliticsofIdentityandExclusion/nantulya.pdf#search=%22%22idi%20amin%22%20anyanya%22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004231023/http://www.kas.org.za/Publications/SeminarReports/PoliticsofIdentityandExclusion/nantulya.pdf |archive-date=4 October 2006}}</ref>

== Seizure of power ==
{{further|1971 Ugandan coup d'état}}
[[File:Obote cropped.png|thumb|[[Milton Obote]], Uganda's second president, whom Amin overthrew in a [[coup d'état]] in 1971]]

Eventually a rift developed between Amin and Obote, exacerbated by the support Amin had built within the Uganda Army by recruiting from the [[West Nile sub-region|West Nile region]] (his region of origin), his involvement in operations to support the [[First Sudanese Civil War|rebellion in southern Sudan]] and an attempt on Obote's life in 1969. In October 1970, Obote took control of the armed forces, reducing Amin from his months-old post of commander of all the armed forces to that of the commander of the Uganda Army.<ref name="britishcouncil" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=January 2021 |title=Idi Amin's Coup d'État, Uganda 1971 |url=https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/idi-amins-uganda-coup-1971?language_content_entity=en |access-date=27 March 2023 |website=Origins |language=en}}</ref>

Having learned that Obote was planning to arrest him for misappropriating army funds, Amin seized power in a [[1971 Ugandan coup d'état|military coup]] with the assistance of [[Israel]]i government agents<ref>{{Cite news |title=Revealed: how Israel helped Amin to take power |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/revealed-how-israel-helped-amin-to-take-power-100683.html |access-date=17 November 2023 |work=The Independent}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=23 November 2023 |title=Why Israel and Britain were delighted at Amin's rise |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/why-israel-and-britain-were-delighted-at-amins-rise/Y2EVWPDJRA3FH64KE4XWVWAAKU/ |access-date=23 November 2023 |website=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |language=en-NZ}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=15 August 2013 |title=Clandestine – and creative – diplomacy |url=https://www.jpost.com/magazine/books/clandestine-and-creative-diplomacy-323185 |access-date=23 November 2023 |website=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |language=en-US |issn=0792-822X}}</ref> on 25 January 1971, while Obote was attending that year's [[Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1971|Commonwealth summit]] meeting in Singapore. Troops loyal to Amin sealed off [[Entebbe International Airport]] and took Kampala. Soldiers surrounded Obote's residence and blocked major roads. A broadcast on [[Uganda Broadcasting Corporation|Radio Uganda]] accused Obote's government of corruption and preferential treatment of the [[Lango sub-region|Lango region]]. Cheering crowds were reported in the streets of Kampala after the radio broadcast.<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 January 1971 |title=On this day: 25 January 1971: Idi Amin ousts Ugandan president |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/25/newsid_2506000/2506423.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128040534/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/25/newsid_2506000/2506423.stm |archive-date=28 January 2011 |access-date=8 August 2009 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> Amin, who presented himself a soldier, not a politician, declared that the [[military dictatorship|military government]] would remain only as a [[caretaker government|caretaker regime]] until new elections, which would be held when the situation was normalized. He promised to release all [[political prisoner]]s.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fairhall |first=John |date=26 January 1971 |title=Curfew in Uganda after military coup topples Obote |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1971/jan/26/fromthearchive |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140212164858/http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1971/jan/26/fromthearchive |archive-date=12 February 2014 |access-date=8 August 2009 |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London}}</ref>

Amin held a state funeral in April 1971 for Edward Mutesa, former king (''kabaka'') of Buganda and president, who had died in exile.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Remembering Sir Edward Mutesa II, a great man of our time |url=https://www.newvision.co.ug/articledetails/undefined |access-date=27 September 2023 |website=New Vision |language=en}}</ref>

== Presidency ==
{{further|Second Republic of Uganda}}

=== Establishment of military rule ===
On 2 February 1971, one week after the coup, Amin declared himself President of Uganda, [[Commander-in-Chief]] of the Armed Forces, Uganda Army [[Chief of Staff]], and Chief of Air Staff. He suspended certain provisions of the [[Constitution of Uganda|Ugandan constitution]], and soon instituted an Advisory Defense Council composed of military officers with himself as the chairman. Amin placed [[military tribunal]]s above the system of [[civil law (legal system)|civil law]], appointed soldiers to top posts in government and [[government-owned corporation]]s, and informed the newly inducted civilian [[Cabinet (government)|cabinet ministers]] that they would be subject to [[military courtesy]].<ref name="britishcouncil" /><ref name="LOC_Rule_Under_Amin">{{Cite web |title=Country Studies: Uganda: Military Rule Under Amin |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ugtoc.html#ug0159 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716190740/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ugtoc.html#ug0159 |archive-date=16 July 2012 |access-date=8 August 2009 |website=Federal Research Division |publisher=United States Library of Congress}}</ref> Amin [[Rule by decree|ruled by decree]]; over the course of his rule he issued approximately 30 decrees.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mugabe |first=Faustin |date=26 May 2019 |title=12 executed as Amin introduces trial of civilians in military |url=https://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/PeoplePower/12-executed-as-Amin-introduces-trial-civilians-military-courts/689844-5131640-onaekdz/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303230014/https://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/PeoplePower/12-executed-as-Amin-introduces-trial-civilians-military-courts/689844-5131640-onaekdz/index.html |archive-date=3 March 2020 |access-date=3 March 2020 |website=Daily Monitor}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Krcmaric |first=Daniel |title=The Justice Dilemma: International Criminal Accountability, Mass Atrocities, and Civil Conflict |access-date=3 June 2021 |degree=PhD |publisher=Department of Political Science, Graduate School of Duke University |place=Durham, United States |language=English |pages=121–129 |chapter=Chapter 6: Case Studies |chapter-url=https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10161/9903/Krcmaric_duke_0066D_12863.pdf |via=DukeSpace (Duke University Libraries) |editor1-first=Alexander |editor1-last=Downes |editor2-first=Erik |editor2-last=Wibbels |editor3-first=Laia |editor3-last=Balcells |editor4-first=Peter |editor4-last=Feaver |year=2015}}</ref>

Amin renamed the presidential lodge in Kampala from Government House to "The Command Post". He disbanded the General Service Unit (GSU), an intelligence agency created by the previous government, and replaced it with the [[State Research Bureau (organisation)|State Research Bureau]] (SRB). SRB headquarters at the Kampala suburb of [[Nakasero]] became the scene of [[torture]] and [[capital punishment]] over the next few years.<ref name="LOC_Security">{{Cite web |title=Country Studies: Uganda: Post-Independence Security Services |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ugtoc.html#ug0159 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716190740/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ugtoc.html#ug0159 |archive-date=16 July 2012 |access-date=8 August 2009 |website=Federal Research Division |publisher=United States Library of Congress}}</ref> Other agencies used to persecute dissenters included the [[military police]] and the Public Safety Unit (PSU).<ref name="LOC_Security" />

Obote took refuge in Tanzania, having been offered sanctuary there by the Tanzanian President [[Julius Nyerere]]. Obote was soon joined by 20,000 Ugandan refugees fleeing Amin. The exiles attempted but failed to regain Uganda in 1972, through a poorly organised [[Coup d'état|coup]] attempt.<ref name="invasion">{{Cite magazine |date=13 November 1978 |title=An Idi-otic Invasion |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,946151,00.html |access-date=8 August 2009 |magazine=Time}}</ref>

=== Persecution of ethnic and political groups ===
[[File:Amin Dadas Torture chambers.jpg|thumb|Many victims of Amin's regime perished in torture chambers during his reign.]]
Amin retaliated against the [[1972 invasion of Uganda|attempted invasion by Ugandan exiles in 1972]] by purging the [[Uganda Army (1971–1980)|Uganda Army]] of Obote supporters, predominantly those from the [[Acholi people|Acholi]] and [[Langi people|Lango]] ethnic groups.<ref name="TallJstor">{{Cite journal |last=Tall |first=Mamadou |date=Spring–Summer 1982 |title=Notes on the Civil and Political Strife in Uganda |journal=Issue: A Journal of Opinion |volume=12 |issue=1/2 |pages=41–44 |doi=10.2307/1166537 |jstor=1166537}}</ref> In July 1971, Lango and Acholi soldiers had been massacred in the [[Jinja, Uganda|Jinja]] and [[Mbarara]] [[barracks]].<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Lautze |first=Sue |title=Research on Violent Institutions in Unstable Environments: The livelihoods systems of Ugandan army soldiers and their families in a war zone |url=http://www.livesandlivelihoods.com/files/25826548.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070710071214/http://www.livesandlivelihoods.com/files/25826548.pdf |archive-date=10 July 2007 |location=Hertford College, Oxford University |url-status=usurped}}</ref> By early 1972, some 5,000 Acholi and Lango soldiers, and at least twice as many civilians, had disappeared.<ref name="telegraph_obituary">{{Cite news |last=Moore |first=Charles |date=17 September 2003 |title=Obituary: Idi Amin |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/08/18/db1801.xml&page=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012134036/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2003%2F08%2F18%2Fdb1801.xml&page=1 |archive-date=12 October 2007 |access-date=31 July 2018 |work=Daily Telegraph |location=London}}</ref> The victims soon came to include members of other [[ethnic group]]s, religious leaders, journalists, artists, senior bureaucrats, judges, lawyers, [[Student movements in Uganda|students]] and intellectuals, criminal suspects, and foreign nationals. In this atmosphere of violence, many other people were killed for criminal motives or simply at will. Bodies were often dumped into the River Nile.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Disappearances and Political Killings: Human Rights Crisis of the 1990s: A Manual for Action |url=http://web.amnesty.org/aidoc/aidoc_pdf.nsf/d45725da5fa95f1f80256a2b00642199/cde8ef35a67e99e3802569a70019299e/$FILE/a3307593.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071128072410/http://web.amnesty.org/aidoc/aidoc_pdf.nsf/d45725da5fa95f1f80256a2b00642199/cde8ef35a67e99e3802569a70019299e/%24FILE/a3307593.pdf |archive-date=28 November 2007 |publisher=Amnesty International}}</ref>

The killings, motivated by ethnic, political, and financial factors, continued throughout Amin's eight years in control.<ref name=telegraph_obituary/> The exact number of people killed is unknown. The [[International Commission of Jurists]] estimated the death toll at no fewer than 80,000 and more likely around 300,000. An estimate compiled by exile organizations with the help of [[Amnesty International]] puts the number killed at 500,000.<ref name=Keatley/>

In his 1997 book ''State of Blood: The Inside Story of Idi Amin'', [[Henry Kyemba]] (who was a Ugandan minister for three years in Amin's cabinet) states that "Amin's bizarre behavior derives partly from his tribal background. Like many other warrior societies, the [[Kakwa people|Kakwa]], Amin's tribe, are known to have practiced blood rituals on slain enemies. These involve cutting a piece of flesh from the body to subdue the dead man's spirit or tasting the victim's blood to render the spirit harmless. Such rituals still exist among the Kakwa. Amin's practices do not stop at tasting blood: on several occasions he has boasted to me and others that he has eaten human flesh." (Kyemba 109–10)<ref>{{Cite book |title=A state of blood: The inside story of Idi Amin |publisher=Fountain Publishers |year=1997 |isbn=9789970021321 |ol=3445268M}}</ref>

Among the most prominent people killed were [[Benedicto Kiwanuka]], a former prime minister and [[chief justice]]; [[Janani Luwum]], the [[Anglican Communion|Anglican]] [[archbishop]]; Joseph Mubiru, the former governor of [[Bank of Uganda|the central bank of Uganda]]; Frank Kalimuzo, the vice-chancellor of [[Makerere University]]; Byron Kawadwa, a prominent playwright; and two of Amin's own cabinet ministers, [[Erinayo Wilson Oryema]] and [[Charles Oboth Ofumbi]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 June 2007 |title=Special report: Who were Amin's victims? |url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/specialincludes/ugprsd/amin/articles/amin6.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613161724/http://www.monitor.co.ug/specialincludes/ugprsd/amin/articles/amin6.php |archive-date=13 June 2007 |work=The Daily Monitor}}</ref>

Amin recruited his followers from his own ethnic group, the Kakwas, along with South Sudanese, and Nubians. By 1977, these three groups formed 60 per cent of the 22 top generals and 75 per cent of the cabinet. Similarly, Muslims formed 80 per cent and 87.5 per cent of these groups even though they were only 5 percent of the population. This helps explain why Amin survived eight attempted coups.<ref>Stefan Lindemann, The ethnic politics of coup avoidance, page 20</ref> The Uganda Army grew from 10,000 to 25,000 by 1978. Amin's military was largely a mercenary force. Half the soldiers were South Sudanese and 26 per cent Congolese, with only 24 per cent being Ugandan, mostly Muslim and [[Kakwa people|Kakwa]].<ref>Andrew Mambo and Julian Schofield, "Military Diversion in the 1978 Uganda-Tanzania War", page 12</ref>

{{blockquote|quote=We are determined to make the ordinary Ugandan master of his own destiny and, above all, to see that he enjoys the wealth of his country. Our deliberate policy is to transfer the economic control of Uganda into the hands of Ugandans, for the first time in our country's history.|source=Idi Amin on the persecution of minorities<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jørgensen |first=Jan Jelmert |url=https://archive.org/details/ugandamodernhist00jrge/page/288 |title=Uganda: A Modern History |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-85664-643-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ugandamodernhist00jrge/page/288 288–290]}}</ref>}}
[[File:Aziaten die Oeganda uitgewezen zijn op Schiphol, groep Aziaten na aankomst, Bestanddeelnr 926-0503.jpg|thumb|Refugees of Uganda's Asian Community in the [[Netherlands]], November 1972]]
In August 1972, Amin declared what he called an "economic war", a set of policies that included the expropriation of properties owned by Asians and Europeans. Uganda's 80,000 Asians were mostly from the [[Indian subcontinent]] and born in the country, their ancestors having come to Uganda in search of prosperity when India was still a British colony.<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 April 2007 |title=Idi Amin had targeted Indians in 70s |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Idi-Amin-had-targeted-Indians-in-70s/articleshow/1911455.cms |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324184819/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-04-15/india/27882308_1_devang-raval-museveni-indians |archive-date=24 March 2012 |work=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref> Many owned businesses, including large-scale enterprises, which formed the backbone of the Ugandan economy.<ref name="Luganda">{{Cite news |last=Luganda |first=Patrick |date=29 July 2003 |title=Amin's Economic War Left Uganda on Crutches |work=New Vision |location=Kampala}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite news |date=7 August 1972 |title=On this day: 7 August 1972: Asians given 90 days to leave Uganda |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/7/newsid_2492000/2492333.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120719150554/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/7/newsid_2492000/2492333.stm |archive-date=19 July 2012 |access-date=8 August 2009 |publisher=BBC}}</ref><ref name="Flight of the Asians">{{Cite magazine |date=11 September 1972 |title=Flight of the Asians |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,906327,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110129090114/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,906327,00.html |archive-date=29 January 2011 |access-date=8 August 2009 |magazine=Time}}</ref> In fact, he even referred to Asians as the "Brown Jews" because of their dominance in commerce and their perceived economic control.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Oded |first=Arye |date=2006 |title=Israeli-Ugandan Relations in the Time of Idi Amin |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25834697 |journal=Jewish Political Studies Review |volume=18 |issue=3/4 |pages=65–79 |jstor=25834697 |issn=0792-335X}}</ref> Furthermore, Amin expressed his sympathy for Hitler where he said Hitler was right for burning over six million Jews because "the Israelis are not a people who work for humanity."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Justifying the Holocaust and Promoting a Second One |url=https://jcpa.org/article/justifying-the-holocaust-and-promoting-a-second-one/ |access-date=2025-06-23 |website=Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs |language=en-US}}</ref>

On 4 August 1972, Amin issued a decree [[expulsion of Asians from Uganda|ordering the expulsion]] of the 50,000 Asians who were British passport holders. This was later amended to include all 60,000 Asians who were not Ugandan citizens. Amin claimed that he had a dream in which God told him he must expel all Asians for the welfare of Uganda. Furthermore, he believed that Asians were sabotaging the economy of Uganda.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brown |first=Thomas |date=2022-08-31 |title=Ugandan Asians: 50 years since their expulsion from Uganda |url=https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/ugandan-asians-50-years-since-their-expulsion-from-uganda/ |journal=UK Parliament |language=en-GB}}</ref> Additionally, the reasons articulated by Amin suggest a racial basis for the expulsion.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Castellino |first1=Joshua |title=Asian States, International Human Rights Law, and Minority Rights |date=2006-04-20 |work=Minority Rights in Asia |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296057.003.0002 |access-date=2025-06-09 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-929605-7 |last2=Redondo |first2=Elvira Domínguez|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296057.003.0002 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Around 30,000 Ugandan Asians emigrated to the UK. Others went to Commonwealth countries such as [[Australia]], [[South Africa]], [[Canada]], and [[Fiji]], or to [[India]], [[Kenya]], [[Pakistan]], [[Sweden]], [[Tanzania]], and the [[United States]].<ref name="Luganda" /><ref name="auto" /><ref name="Flight of the Asians" /> Amin expropriated businesses and properties belonging to the Asians and the Europeans and handed them over to his supporters. Without the experienced owners and proprietors, businesses were mismanaged and many industries collapsed from lack of operational expertise and maintenance. This proved disastrous for the already declining Ugandan economy.<ref name=LOC_Rule_Under_Amin/> At the time, Asians accounted for 90% of the country's tax revenue; with their removal, Amin's administration lost a large chunk of government revenue. The economy all but collapsed.<ref>{{Cite news |title=50 years on from the arrival of the Ugandan Asians |url=https://www.economist.com/britain/2022/08/18/50-years-on-from-the-arrival-of-the-ugandan-asians |access-date=16 September 2022 |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |issn=0013-0613}}</ref>

Idi Amin murdered an estimated 500 [[Yemenis|Yemeni]] [[Hadharem|Hadrami]] Arab merchants.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jacobsen |first=Frode F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vzh6AgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Around+five+hundred+Hadramis+were+killed+in+Uganda+at+that+time%22&pg=PA17 |title=Hadrami Arabs in Present-day Indonesia: An Indonesia-oriented Group with an Arab Signature |date=2009 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1134018529 |edition=illustrated |series=Routledge Contemporary Southeast Asia Series |page=17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vdoc.pub/documents/hadrami-arabs-in-present-day-indonesia-routledge-contemporary-southeast-asia-series-2fgmpjeslf00|title=Hadrami Arabs In Present-day Indonesia (routledge Contemporary Southeast Asia Series) [PDF] [2fgmpjeslf00]|website=vdoc.pub}}</ref>

In 1975, [[Emmanuel Bwayo Wakhweya]], Amin's finance minister and longest-serving cabinet member at the time, defected to [[London]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=21 July 1976 |title=Uganda Minister Named |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/21/archives/uganda-minister-named.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203161913/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/21/archives/uganda-minister-named.html |archive-date=3 December 2018 |access-date=28 November 2018 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> This prominent defection helped [[Henry Kyemba]], Amin's health minister and a former official of the first Obote regime, [[defection|to defect]] in 1977 and resettle in the UK. Kyemba wrote and published ''A State of Blood'', the first insider exposé of Amin's rule.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/henry-kyemha/a-state-of-blood-the-inside-story-of-idi-amin/ |title=A State of Blood : The Inside Story of Idi Amin by Henry Kyemha {{!}} Kirkus Reviews |language=en-us |access-date=17 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118064836/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/henry-kyemha/a-state-of-blood-the-inside-story-of-idi-amin/ |archive-date=18 January 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On 25 June 1976, the Defense Council declared Amin [[president for life]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 April 2021 |title=Magembe book tells how Amin was declared 'Life President of Uganda' |url=https://observer.ug/lifestyle/69226-magembe-book-tells-how-amin-was-declared-life-president-of-uganda |access-date=19 April 2021 |work=The Observer}}</ref>

=== International relations ===
{{See also|Foreign relations of Uganda}}

[[File:ASC Leiden - F. van der Kraaij Collection - 08 - 081 - The inauguration of William Richard Tolbert, 20th President of Liberia. Tolbert and Idi Amin - Ashmun street, Monrovia, Liberia, 1976.tiff|thumb|Amin during the inauguration of [[William Tolbert]], 20th [[president of Liberia]], in 1976]]

Initially, Amin was supported by Western powers such as [[Israel]], [[West Germany]], and, in particular, the United Kingdom. During the late 1960s, Obote's [[move to the left]], which included his [[Common Man's Charter]] and the [[nationalisation]] of 80 British companies, had made the West worried that he would pose a threat to Western capitalist interests in Africa and make Uganda an ally of the [[Soviet Union]]. Amin, who had served with the King's African Rifles and taken part in Britain's suppression of the [[Mau Mau uprising]] prior to Ugandan independence, was known by the British as "intensely loyal to Britain". This made him an obvious choice as Obote's successor. Although some have claimed that Amin was being groomed for power as early as 1966, the plotting by the British and other Western powers began in earnest in 1969, after Obote had begun his nationalization programme.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1979 |title=The Making of Idi Amin |url=http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/36/502.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924025120/http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/36/502.html |archive-date=24 September 2015 |access-date=23 August 2015 |publisher=New African}}</ref>

Throughout the first year of his presidency, Amin received key military and financial support from the United Kingdom and Israel. In July 1971 he visited both countries and asked for advanced military equipment, but the states refused to provide hardware unless the Ugandan government paid for it. Amin decided to seek foreign support elsewhere and in February 1972 he visited [[Libyan Arab Jamahiriya|Libya]]. Amin denounced [[Zionism]], and in return Libyan leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] pledged Uganda an immediate $25 million loan to be followed by more lending from the Libyan–Ugandan Development Bank. Over the following months Amin successively removed Israeli military advisers from his government, expelled all other Israeli technicians, and finally broke diplomatic relations.{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|pp=10–11}} Gaddafi also mediated a resolution to long-standing Ugandan–Sudanese tensions, with Amin agreeing to stop backing [[Anyanya]] rebels in southern Sudan and instead recruit the former guerilla fighters into his army.{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=11}}

Following the expulsion of Ugandan Asians in 1972, most of whom were of Indian descent, India severed [[diplomatic relations]] with Uganda. The same year, as part of his "economic war", Amin broke diplomatic ties with the United Kingdom and nationalized all British-owned businesses.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baltrop |first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=55NPpA6EvyMC&pg=PA1 |title=A Biographical Encyclopedia of Contemporary Genocide: Portraits of Evil and Good |date=17 December 2014 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-38678-7 |location=online |pages=17 |access-date=27 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418173908/https://books.google.com/books?id=55NPpA6EvyMC&pg=PA1 |archive-date=18 April 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> The United Kingdom and Israel ceased all trade with Uganda, but this commercial gap was quickly filled by Libya, the United States, and the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=11}}

The Soviet Union under [[Leonid Brezhnev]] grew increasingly interested in Uganda as a strategic counterbalance to perceived [[China|Chinese]] influence in Tanzania and [[Western world|Western influence]] in Kenya. It dispatched a military mission to Uganda in November 1973. While it could not supply the financial level available from the Western powers, the Soviet Union opted to provide Amin with military hardware in exchange for his support.{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|pp=11–12}} The Soviet Union quickly became Amin's largest arms supplier, sending Uganda tanks, jets, artillery, missiles, and small arms. By 1975, it was estimated that the Soviets had provided Amin's government with $12 million in economic assistance and $48 million in arms. Amin also sent several thousand Ugandans to [[Eastern Bloc]] countries for military, intelligence, and technical training, especially [[Czechoslovakia]].{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=12}} [[East Germany]] was involved in the General Service Unit and the State Research Bureau, the two agencies that were most notorious for terror. During the Ugandan invasion of Tanzania in 1979, East Germany attempted to remove evidence of its involvement with these agencies.<ref name="gdr1" />

In December 1973, Amin launched a sarcastic 'Save Britain Fund' during the [[1973–1975 recession]] to "save and assist our former colonial masters from economic catastrophe", while offering emergency food supplies and urging Ugandans to donate.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sharpe |first=James |title=Foreign Exchange: The Complete Deal A Comprehensive Guide to the Theory and Practice of the Forex Market |date=2012 |publisher=Harriman House |page=17}}</ref>{{sfn|Leopold|2020|p=241}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Turner |first=Alwyn W. |title=Crisis? What Crisis? Britain in the 1970s |date=2009 |publisher=Aurum}}</ref> In 1974, he offered to host and mediate negotiations to end the [[The Troubles|conflict in Northern Ireland]], believing that Uganda's position as a former British colony made it apt to do so.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 January 2005 |title=Cabinet Papers: Dictator Amin offered to broker Ulster deal |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/cabinet-papers-dictator-amin-offered-to-broker-ulster-deal/28229409.html |work=[[The Belfast Telegraph]]}}</ref>

[[File:Idi Amin and Mobutu.jpeg|thumb|left|Amin visits the [[Zaire|Zairian]] dictator [[Mobutu Sese Seko|Mobutu]] during the [[Shaba I]] conflict in 1977]]

In June 1976, Amin allowed an [[Air France]] airliner from [[Tel Aviv]] to [[Paris]] hijacked by two members of the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – External Operations]] (PFLP-EO) and two members of the German [[Revolutionary Cells (German group)|Revolutionäre Zellen]] to land at Entebbe Airport. The hijackers were joined there by three more. Soon after, 156 non-Jewish hostages who did not hold Israeli passports were released and flown to safety, while 83 Jews and Israeli citizens, as well as 20 others who refused to abandon them (among whom were the captain and crew of the hijacked Air France jet), continued to be held hostage.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite news |date=7 July 1976 |title=On this day: 7 July 1976: British grandmother missing in Uganda |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/7/newsid_2496000/2496095.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121218065112/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/7/newsid_2496000/2496095.stm |archive-date=18 December 2012 |access-date=8 August 2009 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> In the subsequent Israeli rescue operation, codenamed Operation Thunderbolt (popularly known as [[Operation Entebbe]]), on the night of 3–4 July 1976, a group of Israeli commandos flew in from Israel and seized control of Entebbe Airport, freeing nearly all the hostages. Three hostages died during the operation and 10 were wounded; seven hijackers, about 45 Ugandan soldiers, and one Israeli soldier, [[Yoni Netanyahu]] (the commander of the unit), were killed. A fourth hostage, 75-year-old [[Murder of Dora Bloch|Dora Bloch]], an elderly Jewish Englishwoman who had been taken to [[Mulago Hospital]] in Kampala before the rescue operation, was subsequently murdered in reprisal. The incident further soured Uganda's international relations, leading the United Kingdom to close its [[High Commissioner|High Commission]] in Uganda.<ref name="auto1" /> In retaliation for Kenya's assistance in the raid, Amin also ordered the killing of hundreds of Kenyans living in Uganda.<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 July 1976 |title=On this day: 4 July 1976: Israelis rescue Entebbe hostages |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/4/newsid_2786000/2786967.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200308093350/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/4/newsid_2786000/2786967.stm |archive-date=8 March 2020 |access-date=8 January 2017 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>

Uganda under Amin embarked on a large military build-up, which raised concerns in Kenya. Early in June 1975, Kenyan officials impounded a large convoy of Soviet-made arms ''en route'' to Uganda at the port of [[Mombasa]]. Tension between Uganda and Kenya reached its climax in February 1976, when Amin announced that he would investigate the possibility that parts of southern Sudan and western and central Kenya, up to within {{convert|32|km|mi}} of [[Nairobi]], were historically a part of colonial Uganda. The [[Politics of Kenya|Kenyan Government]] responded with a stern statement that Kenya would not part with "a single inch of territory". Amin backed down after the Kenyan army deployed troops and [[armoured personnel carrier]]s along the Kenya–Uganda border.<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 August 2003 |title='Dada' always rubbed Kenya the wrong way |url=http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/17082003/News/Amin_News170820039.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206065709/http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/17082003/News/Amin_News170820039.html |archive-date=6 February 2008 |work=Sunday Nation}}</ref> Amin's relations with [[Rwanda]] were tense, and during his tenure he repeatedly jeopardized its economy by denying its commercial vehicles transit to Mombasa and made multiple threats to bomb [[Kigali]].{{sfn|Singh|2012|p=58}}

=== War with Tanzania and deposition ===
{{further|Uganda–Tanzania War}}
[[File:End of Idi Amin.jpg|thumb|299x299px|Amin in 1979 during the end of the war]]
In January 1977 Amin appointed General [[Mustafa Adrisi]] Vice President of Uganda.<ref name="bulletin">{{Cite news |date=January 1977 |title=Uganda : Vice-President Appointed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oncEAQAAIAAJ |work=Africa Research Bulletin |page=4284}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=26 January 1977 |title=Amin names No. 2 six years after coup |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/493270481/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216030016/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/493270481/ |archive-date=16 December 2019 |access-date=15 December 2019 |work=The Vancouver Sun |page=18 |agency=Reuters}}</ref> That year, a split in the Uganda Army developed between supporters of Amin and soldiers loyal to Adrisi, who held significant power in the government and wanted to purge foreigners, particularly Sudanese, from the military.{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=49}} The growing dissatisfaction in the Uganda Army was reflected by frequent coup attempts;{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=30}} Amin was even wounded during one of them, namely [[Operation Mafuta Mingi]] in June 1977.{{sfn|Seftel|2010|p=190}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mann |first=Roger |date=24 June 1977 |title=Amin Alive |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/06/24/amin-alive/cccb2d12-ff6f-4b85-b02b-d4c9a990f55a/ |access-date=13 May 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> By 1978, the number of Amin's supporters and close associates had shrunk significantly, and he faced increasing dissent from the populace within Uganda as the economy and infrastructure collapsed as a result of the years of neglect and abuse. After the killings of Bishop Luwum and ministers Oryema and Oboth Ofumbi in 1977, several of Amin's ministers defected or fled into exile.<ref name="bishop">{{Cite news |last=Mubangizi |first=Michael |date=16 February 2006 |editor-last=Tumusiime |editor-first=James |title=Not even an archbishop was spared |url=http://www.ugandaobserver.com/new/archives/2006arch/features/spec/feb/spec200602161.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012152659/http://ugandaobserver.com/new/archives/2006arch/features/spec/feb/spec200602161.php |archive-date=12 October 2007 |work=The Weekly Observer |publisher=Observer Media Ltd |location=Kampala, Uganda |language=English |editor2-last=Katunzi |editor2-first=Pius Muteekani |editor3-last=Bulime |editor3-first=Bob}}</ref> In early 1978, Adrisi was severely injured in a car accident and flown to Cairo for treatment. While he was there, Amin stripped him of his positions as Minister of Defense and Minister of Home Affairs and denounced him for retiring senior prison officials without his knowledge. Amin then proceeded to purge several high-ranking officials from his government{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|pp=49–50}} and took personal control of several ministerial portfolios. The shakeup caused political unrest and especially angered Adrisi's followers, who believed that the car accident was a failed assassination attempt.<ref name="crackdown">{{Cite news |date=1978 |title=Uganda : Idi Amin cracks down on ministers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FH_hAAAAMAAJ |work=To the Point International |page=26 |volume=5}}</ref>

In November 1978, troops loyal to Adrisi mutinied. Amin sent troops against the mutineers, some of whom had fled across the Tanzanian border.<ref name="LOC_Rule_Under_Amin" /> Fighting consequently broke out along that border, and the Uganda Army [[Invasion of Kagera|invaded Tanzanian territory]] under unclear circumstances.{{sfn|Roberts|2017|p=156}} According to several experts and politicians, Amin directly ordered the invasion in an attempt to distract the Ugandan military and public from the crisis at home.{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=52}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lubega |first=Henry |date=30 May 2014 |title=Amin's former top soldier reveals why TPDF won |url=http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/national/Why-Tanzania-defeated-Amin/1840392-2331220-olaa1lz/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181014165401/https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/national/Why-Tanzania-defeated-Amin/1840392-2331220-olaa1lz/index.html |archive-date=14 October 2018 |access-date=14 October 2018 |website=The Citizen}}</ref> Other accounts suggest, however, that Amin had lost control of parts of the Uganda Army, so Amin's sanction for the invasion was a ''post-facto'' action to save face regarding troops who had acted without his orders.{{sfn|Mambo|Schofield|2007|pp=312–313}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mugabe |first=Faustin |date=20 December 2015 |title=How bar fight sparked the 1979 Uganda – Tanzania war |url=https://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/PeoplePower/How-bar-fight-sparked-the-1979-Uganda--Tanzania-war/689844-3002788-12ob9gk/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003072856/http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/PeoplePower/How-bar-fight-sparked-the-1979-Uganda--Tanzania-war/689844-3002788-12ob9gk/index.html |archive-date=3 October 2018 |access-date=13 August 2019 |website=Daily Monitor}}</ref> In any case, Amin accused Tanzanian President [[Julius Nyerere]] of initiating the war against Uganda after the hostilities had erupted, and proclaimed the [[annexation]] of a section of [[Kagera Region|Kagera]] when the Ugandan invasion initially proved to be successful.<ref name="LOC_Rule_Under_Amin" /><ref name="invasion" /> However, as Tanzania began to prepare a counter-offensive, Amin reportedly realized his precarious situation, and attempted to defuse the conflict without losing face.{{sfn|Hooper|1999|p=42}} The Ugandan President publicly suggested that he and Nyerere participate in a boxing match which, in lieu of military action, would determine the outcome of the conflict.{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=67}}{{efn|Amin also proposed that [[Muhammad Ali]] could act as referee.{{sfn|Rice|2003|p=11}} Researcher Alicia C. Decker reasoned that the suggestion of a boxing match was supposed to "bolster [Amin's] masculinity" and thereby showcase that he remained a strong leader in the face of mounting opposition to his regime. Accordingly, the proposal was mostly directed toward a Ugandan audience, and part of Amin's "performative" ruling style.{{sfn|Decker|2014|pp=152–153}}}} Nyerere ignored the message.{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=67}}

In January 1979, Nyerere mobilized the [[Tanzania People's Defence Force]] and counterattacked, joined by several groups of Ugandan exiles who had united as the [[Uganda National Liberation Army]] (UNLA). Amin's army retreated steadily, despite military help from Libya's Muammar Gaddafi<ref name="britannica" /> and the [[Palestine Liberation Organisation]] (PLO).{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=90}} The President reportedly made several trips abroad to other countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq during the war, attempting to enlist more [[Foreign support of Uganda in the Uganda–Tanzania War|foreign support]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Darnton |first=John |date=7 March 1979 |title=Both Uganda and Tanzania Seek Arab Aid in Winning Their War |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/03/07/archives/both-uganda-and-tanzania-seek-arab-aid-in-winning-their-war.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129172406/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/03/07/archives/both-uganda-and-tanzania-seek-arab-aid-in-winning-their-war.html |archive-date=29 January 2021 |access-date=19 December 2019 |work=The New York Times |page=3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Brittain |first=Victoria |date=24 April 1979 |title=Amin Reported To Seek Arms From Baghdad |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/04/24/amin-reported-to-seek-arms-from-baghdad/dc106b80-1b85-44b1-9e62-18d71efe87e6/ |access-date=16 March 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> He made few public appearances in the final months of his rule, but spoke frequently on radio and television.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 April 2016 |title=Amin's final public appearances |url=https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/magazines/people-power/amin-s-final-public-appearances-1647780 |access-date=19 April 2021 |website=Daily Monitor}}</ref> Following a major defeat in the [[Battle of Lukaya]], parts of the Uganda Army command reportedly urged Amin to step down. He angrily refused and declared: "If you don't want to fight, I'll do it myself." He consequently fired chief of staff [[Yusuf Gowon]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=John Daimon |date=6 April 1979 |title=Libyan Troops Supporting Amin Said to Flee Kampala, Leaving It Defenseless |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/06/archives/libyan-troops-supporting-amin-said-to-flee-kampalaleaving-it.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221122851/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/06/archives/libyan-troops-supporting-amin-said-to-flee-kampalaleaving-it.html |archive-date=21 December 2019 |access-date=21 December 2019 |work=The New York Times |page=9}}</ref>{{sfn|Rice|2003|p=12}} However, Amin was forced to flee the Ugandan capital by helicopter on 11 April 1979, when [[Fall of Kampala|Kampala was captured]].<ref name="britannica" /> After a short-lived attempt to rally some remnants of the Uganda Army in eastern Uganda{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=37}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mugabe |first=Faustin |date=8 May 2016 |title=How Amin escaped from Kampala |url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/PeoplePower/How-Amin-escaped-Kampala/689844-3193498-6w8fhl/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428160027/https://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/PeoplePower/How-Amin-escaped-Kampala/689844-3193498-6w8fhl/index.html |archive-date=28 April 2019 |access-date=19 March 2019 |website=Daily Monitor}}</ref> which reportedly included Amin proclaiming the city of [[Jinja, Uganda|Jinja]] his country's new capital,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kapo |first=Nelson Bwire |date=14 April 2019 |editor-last=Baguma |editor-first=Rogers |title=Amin escapes from Kampala on day of overthrow, 'captures' power again from Soroti |url=https://nilepost.co.ug/2019/04/14/amin-escapes-from-kampala-on-day-of-overthrow-captures-power-again-from-soroti/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228202403/https://nilepost.co.ug/2019/04/14/amin-escapes-from-kampala-on-day-of-overthrow-captures-power-again-from-soroti/ |archive-date=28 February 2020 |access-date=5 March 2020 |website=Nile Post |publisher=Nile Post Uganda Ltd (Next Media Services) |place=Kampala, Uganda}}</ref> he fled into exile.<ref name="britannica" /> By the time of his removal from power, Amin had become deeply unpopular in Uganda. The symbols of his rule, his pictures, and buildings associated with him were subject to vandalism during and after the war.{{sfn|Venter|1979|p=85}}

== Bounty ==
Upon Amin's fleeing into exile, the October 1979 issue of ''[[Soldier of Fortune (magazine)|Soldier of Fortune]]'' Magazine offered a bounty of $10,000 in gold to anyone providing information that leads to the capture alive of the former President of Uganda, Idi Amin. Robert K. Brown, the magazine's publisher was quoted as saying “We take exception to the kind of individual Amin is. He should be brought to trial and, after being tried by a jury of his peers, punished.” <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/08/21/archives/notes-on-people-mrs-auchincloss-to-marry-for-the-third-time.html|title=Notes on People (Published 1979)|website=[[The New York Times]] |date=21 August 1979}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,1050492-1,00.html|title=Press: Quiche Eaters, Read No Further|first=James|last=Kelly|magazine=Time |date=18 April 2005|via=content.time.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=19 August 1985 |title=QUICHE EATERS, READ NO FURTHER |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP90-00965R000403220014-9.pdf}}</ref>

== Exile ==
Amin first escaped to Libya, where he stayed until 1980, and ultimately settled in [[Saudi Arabia]], where the [[House of Saud|Saudi royal family]] allowed him [[sanctuary]] and paid him a generous subsidy in return for staying out of politics.<ref name="britannica" /> Amin lived for a number of years on the top two floors of the [[Novotel]] Hotel on Palestine Road in Jeddah. [[Brian Barron]], who covered the Uganda–Tanzania War for the BBC as chief Africa correspondent, together with cameraman [[Mohamed Amin]] (no relation) of Visnews in [[Nairobi]], located Amin on 4 June 1980, and secured the first interview with him since his deposition.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Barron |first=Brian |date=16 August 2003 |title=The Idi Amin I knew |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3156011.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302161853/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3156011.stm |archive-date=2 March 2009 |access-date=16 September 2009 |work=[[BBC News]] |location=London, United Kingdom |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lhrPK-Mxtc |title=Idi Amin Interview (June 4, 1980) |language=en |access-date=18 August 2023 |via=YouTube}}</ref> While in exile, Amin funded remnants of his army that fought in the [[Ugandan Bush War]].{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=224}} Though he continued to be a controversial figure, some of Amin's former followers as well as several rebel groups continued to fight in his name for decades{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=39}} and occasionally advocated for his amnesty<ref>{{Cite news |last=United Press International |date=12 August 1985 |editor-last=Merida |editor-first=Kevin |title=Amin's Generals Seek Amnesty for Him |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-12-mn-3930-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217175256/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-12-mn-3930-story.html |archive-date=17 February 2020 |access-date=7 January 2020 |work=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles, United States |issn=0458-3035 |oclc=3638237 |agency=United Press International (UPI) |editor2-first=Scott |editor2-last=Kraft |editor3-first=Kimi |editor3-last=Yoshino |editor4-first=Shelby |editor4-last=Grad |editor5-first=Shani O. |editor5-last=Hilton |editor6-first=Julia |editor6-last=Turner |editor7-first=Amy |editor7-last=King |editor8-first=John |editor8-last=Canalis |editor9-first=Angel |editor9-last=Jennings |editor10-first=Loree |editor10-last=Matsui |editor11-first=Sewell |editor11-last=Chan |editor12-first=Terry |editor12-last=Tang |editor13-first=Lora |editor13-last=Victorio |editor14-first=Henry |editor14-last=Chu |editor15-first=Dan |editor15-last=Watson |editor16-first=Jessica |editor16-last=Perez |editor17-first=Victor |editor17-last=Barajas |editor18-first=James |editor18-last=Angius |editor19-first=Patrick |editor19-last=Soong-Shiong}}</ref> and even his restoration to the Ugandan Presidency.{{sfn|Day|2011|p=452}} During interviews he gave during his exile in Saudi Arabia, Amin held that Uganda needed him and never expressed [[remorse]] for the brutal nature of his regime.<ref name="remorse">{{Cite news |date=16 August 2003 |title=Idi Amin, ex-dictator of Uganda, dies |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-08-16-amin-obit_x.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707090834/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-08-16-amin-obit_x.htm |archive-date=7 July 2014 |access-date=24 November 2014 |work=[[USA Today]] |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In January 1989, Amin left his exile without authorization by the Saudi Arabian government and flew alongside one of his sons to [[Zaire]]. There, he intended to mobilize a rebel force to reconquer Uganda<ref name="Wiedemann">{{Cite news |last=Wiedemann |first=Erich |date=22 May 2007 |title=Aufbruch und Absturz. Ein Monster als Clown |trans-title=Rise and fall. A monster as a clown |url=https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/spiegelspecialgeschichte/d-51661384.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100124110127/https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/spiegelspecialgeschichte/d-51661384.html |archive-date=24 January 2010 |access-date=9 December 2019 |work=Spiegel |language=de}}</ref><ref name="AP1">{{Cite web |date=20 January 1989 |editor-last=Wormser |editor-first=Andy |editor2-last=Doyle |editor2-first=Brian |editor3-last=Smith |editor3-first=Jason |editor4-last=Akhgar |editor4-first=Hamed |editor5-last=Disque |editor5-first=Eric |editor6-last=Higdon |editor6-first=Rob |editor7-last=Prangley |editor7-first=Anthony |editor8-last=Gonzalez-Conde |editor8-first=Jose Michael |editor9-last=Peters |editor9-first=Natalie |title=Idi Amin's Whereabouts Still Unknown |url=https://www.apnews.com/article/46159691096a890753f38beb23624e9d |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412120753/https://apnews.com/article/46159691096a890753f38beb23624e9d |archive-date=12 April 2021 |access-date=24 February 2021 |website=[[Associated Press|The Associated Press (AP)]] |place=Manama, Bahrain |language=English |agency=The Associated Press (AP) |editor10-first=Phil |editor10-last=Avner |editor11-first=Zach |editor11-last=Landis |editor12-first=Brian |editor12-last=Hopman |editor13-first=Gary |editor13-last=Pruitt |editor14-first=Steven R. |editor14-last=Swartz}}</ref> which was engulfed in [[War in Uganda (1986–1994)|another civil war]] at the time.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|pp=51–60}} The rest of his family stayed in Jeddah.<ref name="AP1" /> Despite using a false Zairean passport, Amin was easily recognized upon arriving with [[Air Zaïre]] at [[N'djili Airport]] and promptly arrested by Zairean security forces. The Zairean government reacted unfavorably to Amin's arrival and attempted to expel him from the country.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 January 1989 |title=Former Dictator Idi Amin to be Expelled From Zaire |url=https://apnews.com/article/2096a48144457832986deddf537e4f9b |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412124305/https://apnews.com/article/2096a48144457832986deddf537e4f9b |archive-date=12 April 2021 |access-date=24 February 2021 |website=AP News}}</ref> At first, Saudi Arabia refused to allow him to return,<ref name="Wiedemann" /><ref name="AP1" /> as its government was deeply offended that he had "abused their hospitality" by leaving without permission, and doing so for political reasons.<ref name="AP2">{{Cite news |last=Shaw |first=Angus |date=19 January 1989 |editor-last=Wormser |editor-first=Andy |title=Out of Africa: Idi Amin Apparently Returning to Exile Home |url=https://www.apnews.com/article/b96282c58b9cd46acc57ab594259cf62 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604011124/https://apnews.com/article/b96282c58b9cd46acc57ab594259cf62 |archive-date=4 June 2021 |access-date=4 June 2021 |work=AP News |location=Harare, Zimbabwe |language=English |agency=[[Associated Press|The Associated Press (AP)]] |editor2-first=Brian |editor2-last=Doyle |editor3-first=Jason |editor3-last=Smith |editor4-first=Hamed |editor4-last=Akhgar |editor5-first=Eric |editor5-last=Disque |editor6-first=Rob |editor6-last=Higdon |editor7-first=Anthony |editor7-last=Prangley |editor8-first=Jose Michael |editor8-last=Gonzalez-Conde |editor9-first=Natalie |editor9-last=Peters |editor10-first=Phil |editor10-last=Avner |editor11-first=Zach |editor11-last=Landis |editor12-first=Brian |editor12-last=Hopman |editor13-first=Gary |editor13-last=Pruitt |editor14-first=Steven R. |editor14-last=Swartz}}</ref> The Zairean government wanted neither to extradite Amin to Uganda where the ex-president faced murder charges nor keep him in Zaire, thereby straining international relations. As a result, Amin was initially expelled to [[Senegal]] from where he was supposed to be sent to Saudi Arabia, but the Senegalese government sent him back to Zaire when Saudi Arabia continued to refuse Amin a visa.<ref name="AP1" /><ref name="AP2" /> Following appeals by Moroccan King [[Hassan II of Morocco|Hassan II]], the Saudi Arabian government finally relented and allowed Amin to return.<ref name="Wiedemann" /><ref name="AP2" /> In return, Amin had to promise to never again participate in any political or military activities, nor give interviews. He consequently spent the remainder of his life in Saudi Arabia.<ref name="Wiedemann" />

In the final years of his life, Amin reportedly ate a [[fruitarian]] diet.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Arad |first=Roy |date=15 April 2014 |editor-last=Benn |editor-first=Aluf |editor2-last=Schauberg |editor2-first=M. DuMont |editor3-last=Schocken |editor3-first=Amos |editor4-last=Solomon |editor4-first=Avi |editor5-last=Bronstein |editor5-first=Aviva |editor6-last=Nitzan |editor6-first=Yaniv |editor7-last=Vissan |editor7-first=Yossi |editor8-last=Guy |editor8-first=Guy |editor9-last=Guez |editor9-first=Rami |title=Beyond vegan: Israel's fruitarians like it raw |url=https://www.haaretz.com/food/.premium-beyond-vegan-israel-s-fruitarians-1.5245165 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218005913/https://www.haaretz.com/food/.premium-beyond-vegan-israel-s-fruitarians-1.5245165 |archive-date=18 February 2021 |access-date=17 February 2021 |website=[[Haaretz]] |publisher=Haaretz Group (Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd.) |place=Tel Aviv, Israel |language=English}}</ref> His daily consumption of oranges earned him the nickname "Dr [[Jaffa orange|Jaffa]]" among Saudi Arabians.<ref name=":1">Goline, Adam Leith (2013). ''The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce and Obsession''. New York: Scribner {{ISBN|9781476704999}}. "Idi Amin, the tyrannical Ugandan dictator, lived his final years in Saudi Arabia as a fruitarian (his affinity for oranges earned him the nickname 'Dr. Jaffa')."</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Joan |date=28 August 1999 |editor-last=Marley |editor-first=David |editor2-last=Hubbard |editor2-first=Chloe |editor3-last=McInerney |editor3-first=Lucie |editor4-last=Taylor |editor4-first=Linda |editor5-last=Owens |editor5-first=Michael |editor6-last=Best |editor6-first=Richard |editor7-last=Alabaster |editor7-first=Olivia |editor8-last=Fox |editor8-first=Gemma |editor9-last=Holdaway |editor9-first=Jo |title=How sex turned into torture |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/how-sex-turned-into-torture-1118224.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218005855/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/how-sex-turned-into-torture-1118224.html |archive-date=18 February 2021 |access-date=18 February 2021 |website=The Independent |publisher=Independent Digital News & Media Limited |place=[[London]], [[United Kingdom]] |language=English |issn=0951-9467 |oclc=185201487 |editor10-first=Sophie |editor10-last=Hanbury |editor11-first=Christian |editor11-last=Broughton |editor12-first=Zach |editor12-last=Leonard |editor13-first=Andrew |editor13-last=Morley}}</ref>

== Illness and death ==
On 19 July 2003, Amin's fourth wife, Nalongo Madina, reported that he was in a [[coma]] and near death at the [[King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre]] in [[Jeddah]], Saudi Arabia, from [[Renal failure|kidney failure]]. She pleaded with the Ugandan president, [[Yoweri Museveni]], to allow him to return to Uganda for the remainder of his life. Museveni replied that Amin would have to "answer for his sins the moment he was brought back".<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 July 2003 |title=Idi Amin back in media spotlight |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3093613.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624145008/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3093613.stm |archive-date=24 June 2011 |access-date=8 August 2009 |work=BBC}}</ref> Amin's family eventually decided to disconnect [[life support]] and Amin consequently died at the hospital in Jeddah on 16 August 2003. He was buried in Ruwais Cemetery in Jeddah in a simple grave, without any fanfare.<ref name="APobit_attendancequote">{{Cite news |date=16 August 2003 |title=Idi Amin, ex-dictator of Uganda, dies |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-08-16-amin-obit_x.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100220172410/http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-08-16-amin-obit_x.htm |archive-date=20 February 2010 |access-date=8 August 2009 |work=[[USA Today]] |quote=Amin was buried in Jiddah's Ruwais cemetery after sunset prayers Saturday, said a person close to the family in the Red Sea port city. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was told that very few people attended the funeral.}}</ref>

After Amin's death, [[David Owen]] revealed that during his term as the British Foreign Secretary (1977 to 1979), he had proposed having Amin [[assassination|assassinated]]. He has defended this, arguing: "I'm not ashamed of considering it, because his regime goes down in the scale of [[Pol Pot]] as one of the worst of all African regimes".<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Wooldridge |first1=Mike |last2=Owen |first2=David |date=16 August 2003 |editor-last=Unsworth |editor-first=Fran |title=UK considered killing Idi Amin |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3157101.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061117054747/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3157101.stm |archive-date=17 November 2006 |work=[[BBC News]] |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) |location=London, United Kingdom of Great Britain |language=English |editor2-first=Mary |editor2-last=Hockaday |editor3-first=Huw |editor3-last=Edwards |editor4-first=Nielsen |editor4-last=Naja |editor5-first=Sula |editor5-last=Jordan |editor6-first=Mary |editor6-last=Darcey |editor7-first=Ralph |editor7-last=Lee |editor8-first=Jonathan |editor8-last=Munro |editor9-first=Ellie |editor9-last=Runcie |editor10-first=Robin |url-status=live |editor10-last=Pembrooke}}</ref>

== Family and associates ==
[[File:Lake Viktoria 2009-08-26 14-29-23.JPG|thumb|300px|Remnants of Amin's palace near [[Lake Victoria]]]]

Idi Amin married at least six women, three of whom he [[divorce]]d. He married his first wife, Malyamu, in March 1962 {{sfn|Decker|2014|p=16}} and his second wife, Kay, in May 1966.{{sfn|Decker|2014|p=17}}  In 1967, he married Nora, and then married Nalongo Madina in 1972. On 26 March 1974, he announced on [[Uganda Broadcasting Corporation|Radio Uganda]] that he had divorced Malyamu, Kay and Nora.<ref name="life_and_loves">{{Cite news |date=20 August 2003 |title=Reign of Terror: The life and loves of a tyrant |url=http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/20082003/News/News122.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206070718/http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/20082003/News/News122.html |archive-date=6 February 2008 |access-date=8 August 2009 |work=Daily Nation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kavuma |first=Richard |date=18 June 2007 |title=Special Report: Big Daddy and his women |url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/specialincludes/ugprsd/amin/articles/amin8.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070618171054/http://www.monitor.co.ug/specialincludes/ugprsd/amin/articles/amin8.php |archive-date=18 June 2007 |access-date=8 August 2009 |work=The Monitor}}</ref> Malyamu was arrested in [[Tororo]] on the Kenyan border in April 1974 and accused of attempting to smuggle a bolt of fabric into Kenya.<ref name="life_and_loves" /><ref name="Amin_is_dead">{{Cite news |last=Kibirige |first=David |date=17 August 2003 |title=Idi Amin is dead |url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/specialincludes/ugprsd/amin/articles/news1.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610010707/http://www.monitor.co.ug/specialincludes/ugprsd/amin/articles/news1.php |archive-date=10 June 2007 |access-date=8 August 2009 |work=The Monitor}}</ref> In 1974, Kay Amin died under mysterious circumstances, with her body found dismembered.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kay Amin |url=http://www.biography.com/people/kay-amin-21075729 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160725032835/http://www.biography.com/people/kay-amin-21075729 |archive-date=25 July 2016 |access-date=20 July 2016 |website=Biography (US) |publisher=A&E Networks}}</ref> Nora fled to [[Zaire]] in 1979; her current whereabouts are unknown.<ref name="Amin_is_dead" />

In July 1975, Amin staged a £2{{spaces}}million wedding to 19-year-old [[Sarah Kyolaba]], a [[go-go dancing|go-go dancer]] with the ''Revolutionary Suicide Mechanised Regiment Band'', nicknamed "Suicide Sarah".<ref name="Sarah_Amin">{{Cite news |last=Kalyegira |first=Timothy |date=14 June 2015 |title=Sarah Amin, 1954–2015 |url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/PeoplePower/Sarah-Amin-1954---2015/-/689844/2750450/-/13xv1j3z/-/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814045045/http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/PeoplePower/Sarah-Amin-1954---2015/-/689844/2750450/-/13xv1j3z/-/index.html |archive-date=14 August 2016 |access-date=20 July 2016 |work=The Monitor (Uganda)}}</ref> The wedding was held during the [[Organisation of African Unity]] (OAU) summit meeting in Kampala, and the chairman of the [[Palestine Liberation Organisation]], [[Yasser Arafat]], served as Amin's [[Groomsman#Best man|best man]].<ref name="Widow_dies">{{Cite news |last=Nakajubi |first=Gloria |date=15 June 2015 |title=Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's widow Sarah Kyolaba dies in the UK aged 59 The dictator's former "favourite" ran a hair salon in north London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ugandan-dictator-idi-amins-widow-sarah-kyolaba-dies-in-the-uk-aged-59-10322083.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160718172639/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ugandan-dictator-idi-amins-widow-sarah-kyolaba-dies-in-the-uk-aged-59-10322083.html |archive-date=18 July 2016 |access-date=20 July 2016 |work=The Independent |location=London}}</ref> Before she met Amin, Sarah was living with a boyfriend, Jesse Gitta; he vanished and it is not clear if he was [[decapitation|beheaded]], or detained after fleeing to [[Kenya]].<ref name=Sarah_Amin/> The couple had four children and enjoyed [[rallying|rally race driving]] Amin's [[Citroën SM]], with Sarah as navigator.<ref name=Sarah_Amin/> Sarah was a [[hairdresser]] in [[Tottenham]] when she died in 2015.<ref name=Widow_dies/>
[[File:The Late Idi Amin Dada's Presidential Car.png|thumb|Amin's Mercedes Benz that he owned between 1972 and 1979]]

By 1993, Amin was living with the last nine of his children and one wife, Mama a Chumaru, the mother of the youngest four of his children. His last known child, daughter Iman, was born in 1992.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Foden |first=Giles |date=4 August 2007 |title=Not quite a chip off the old block |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/aug/04/ukcrime.gilesfoden |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510150831/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/aug/04/ukcrime.gilesfoden |archive-date=10 May 2017 |access-date=11 December 2016 |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London}}</ref> According to the ''[[Daily Monitor]]'', Amin married again a few months before his death in 2003.<ref name="Amin_is_dead" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=16 August 2003 |title=The Idi Amin I knew |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3156011.stm |access-date=16 March 2023 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Amin fathered as many as 60 children.{{efn|A report in the ''Daily Monitor'' says he was survived by 45 children,<ref name="Amin_is_dead" /> while another in the BBC gives the figure of 54.<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 August 2003 |title=Amins row over inheritance |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3179085.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420104409/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3179085.stm |archive-date=20 April 2008 |access-date=9 August 2009 |publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> Some members of his family estimated that he had near 60 children.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Draku |first=Franklin |date=20 April 2019 |title=Amin: Showy man-about-town and father of 60 children |url=https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/magazines/people-power/amin-showy-man-about-town-and-father-of-60-children-1821034 |access-date=19 April 2021 |website=Daily Monitor}}</ref>}} Until 2003, Taban Amin (born 1955),<ref>{{Cite news |date=9 October 2006 |title=Son of Idi Amin threatens to sue 'Last King Of Scotland' producers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fDoDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA35 |work=Jet |publisher=Johnson Publishing Company |page=35}}</ref> Amin's eldest son, was the leader of [[West Nile Bank Front]] (WNBF), a rebel group opposed to the government of Yoweri Museveni. In 2005, he was offered [[amnesty]] by Museveni, and in 2006, he was appointed Deputy Director General of the [[Internal Security Organisation]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mcconnell |first=Tristan |date=12 February 2006 |title=Return of Idi Amin's son casts a shadow over Ugandan election |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/uganda/1510313/Return-of-Idi-Amins-son-casts-a-shadow-over-Ugandan-election.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305121022/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/uganda/1510313/Return-of-Idi-Amins-son-casts-a-shadow-over-Ugandan-election.html |archive-date=5 March 2012 |access-date=8 August 2009 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London}}</ref> Another of Amin's sons, Haji Ali Amin, ran for election as Chairman (i.e. mayor) of [[Njeru]] Town Council in 2002 but was not elected.<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 January 2002 |title=Amin's son runs for mayor |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1740272.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827015803/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1740272.stm |archive-date=27 August 2011 |access-date=8 August 2009 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>

Sarah Kyolaba's third child, Faisal Wangita (born in 1983 in Uganda; according to himself born in 1981 in Saudi Arabia) was involved in a brutal gang murder in [[Camden Town|Camden]], North London, in 2006. In connection with this, he was sentenced to five years' detention in 2007, for conspiracy to wound, conspiracy to possess offensive weapons and violent disorder. He had been convicted for possession of offensive weapons, theft and fraud in the years before.<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 August 2007 |title=Idi Amin's son jailed for role in gang attack |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/aug/03/ukcrime |access-date=4 November 2023 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

In early 2007, the award-winning film ''[[The Last King of Scotland (film)|The Last King of Scotland]]'' prompted one of his sons, Jaffar Amin (born in 1967),<ref name="usatoday.com">{{Cite news |date=22 February 2007 |title=Idi Amin's son lashes out over 'Last King' |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-02-22-amin-protest_x.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625145419/http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-02-22-amin-protest_x.htm |archive-date=25 June 2012 |access-date=1 September 2017 |work=USA Today}}</ref> to speak out in his father's defence. Jaffar Amin said he was writing a book to rehabilitate his father's reputation.<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 February 2007 |title=Idi Amin's son lashes out over 'Last King' |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-02-22-amin-protest_x.htm |url-status= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090919002453/http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-02-22-amin-protest_x.htm |archive-date=19 September 2009 |access-date=8 August 2009 |work=USA Today |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> Jaffar is the tenth of Amin's 40 official children by seven official wives.<ref name="usatoday.com" />

Among Amin's closest associates was the Briton [[Bob Astles]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kelly |first=Jane |date=19 August 2003 |title=Uganda's white rat |url=http://www.dailynews.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=502&fArticleId=210731 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040125235821/http://www.dailynews.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=502&fArticleId=210731 |archive-date=25 January 2004 |access-date=8 August 2009 |work=Daily News}}</ref> [[Isaac Maliyamungu]] was an instrumental affiliate and one of the more feared officers in Amin's army.<ref name="bishop" />

== Character ==
=== Nicknames ===
Over the course of his career, Amin gained numerous nicknames, many of them derogatory:

* "Big Daddy":<ref name="africa coup">{{Cite web |date=12 January 2017 |title=When Uganda last played Africa Cup, Idi Amin ruled |url=https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/sports/soccer/when-uganda-last-played-africa-cup-idi-amin-ruled-1683198 |access-date=11 May 2021 |website=Daily Monitor}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sospeter Okero |first1=Biching'a |last2=Nyandoro Obara |first2=George |last3=Kebaya |first3=Charles |date=22 September 2019 |editor-last=Mugubi |editor-first=John |editor2-last=Ojwang' |editor2-first=Amos O. |editor3-last=Saxena |editor3-first=Monisha |editor4-last=Wesonga |editor4-first=Robert |editor5-last=Kiptoo |editor5-first=Priscah-Tarus |editor6-last=Nyongesa |editor6-first=Andrew |editor7-last=Sehrawat |editor7-first=Deepa |editor8-last=Mwangi |editor8-first=Evan |editor9-last=[[Hope Eghagha]] |title=Representation of the Big Man Typology in The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin |url=https://www.royalliteglobal.com/njhs/article/view/387 |journal=Nairobi Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences |publisher=Royallite Global (Royallite Publishers) |publication-place=Nairobi, Kenya |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=40–56 |issn=2520-4009 |editor10-first=Christopher |editor10-last=Odhiambo}}</ref> affectionate nickname{{sfn|Decker|2014|p=1}}
* ''kijambiya'' ("the [[machete]]"):{{sfn|Decker|2014|p=137}} attributed to Ugandan security forces often murdering their victims with machetes{{sfn|Decker|2014|p=73}}
* "Butcher of Uganda"<ref name="africa coup" />
* "Butcher of Africa"{{sfn|Seftel|2010|p=171}}
* "Butcher of Kampala"<ref name="AP2" />
* "Black Hitler"<ref name="AP2" />
* "Dada": It is disputed whether this was part of Amin's family name or a nickname. Some observers have claimed that it originated as a nickname for Amin's "cowardly" behavior, as it can be translated as "sister", though this has been strongly disputed by others.{{sfn|Decker|2014|p=188}}{{sfn|Leopold|2020|pp=30–31}} Amin's family has stated that "Dada" was simply an alternative name for the [[Lugbara people]] which is occasionally used as a personal name. Researcher Mark Leopold judged this to be more likely than the nickname theory.{{sfn|Leopold|2020|p=31}}
* "Dr. Jaffa":<ref name=":1" /> he earned this nickname in exile in Saudi Arabia due to his daily consumption of oranges, especially after allegedly transitioning to [[fruitarianism]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />

=== Erratic behavior, self-bestowed titles and media portrayal ===
[[File:Idi Amin caricature2.jpg|right|thumb|A 1977 caricature of Amin in military and presidential attire by [[Edmund S. Valtman]]]]
As the years progressed, Amin's behavior became more erratic, unpredictable, and strident. After the United Kingdom broke off all diplomatic relations with his regime in 1977, Amin declared that he had defeated the British, and he conferred on himself the decoration of CBE (Conqueror of the British Empire). His full self-bestowed title ultimately became: "His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]], [[Military Cross|MC]], CBE, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular", in addition to his officially stated claim of being the [[pretender|uncrowned]] [[king of Scotland]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Appiah |first1=Anthony |author-link1=Anthony Appiah |url=https://archive.org/details/africanaencyclop00appi |title=Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience |last2=Henry Louis Gates |author-link2=Henry Louis Gates |year=1999 |isbn=9780465000715 |url-access=registration}}</ref> He never received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) or the Military Cross (MC). He conferred a [[Juris Doctor|doctorate of law]] on himself from Makerere University as well as the Victorious Cross (VC), a medal made to emulate the British [[Victoria Cross]].<ref name="Byword" /><ref>Lloyd, Lorna (2007) p.239</ref>

Amin became the subject of rumours, including a widespread belief that he was a [[Human cannibalism|cannibal]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Orizio |first=Riccardo |date=21 August 2003 |title=Idi Amin's Exile Dream |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/21/opinion/idi-amin-s-exile-dream.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090518032643/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/21/opinion/idi-amin-s-exile-dream.html |archive-date=18 May 2009 |access-date=8 August 2009 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Amin reportedly also boasted that he kept the severed heads of political enemies in his freezer, although he said that human flesh was generally "too salty" for his taste.<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 December 2016 |title=Ghost Stories: Idi Amin's torture chambers – IWMF |url=https://www.iwmf.org/reporting/ghost-stories-idi-amins-torture-chambers/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716050341/https://www.iwmf.org/reporting/ghost-stories-idi-amins-torture-chambers/ |archive-date=16 July 2019 |access-date=6 September 2019 |website=International Women's Media Foundation}}</ref>

During Amin's time in power, popular media outside of Uganda often portrayed him as an essentially comic and eccentric figure. [[Julius Harris]] emphasized Amin's allegedly clownish side in ''[[Victory at Entebbe]]'', while [[Yaphet Kotto]] drew more praise for projecting Amin's sinister nature in ''[[Raid on Entebbe (film)|Raid on Entebbe]]''. In a 1977 assessment typical of the time, a ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine article described him as a "killer and clown, big-hearted buffoon and strutting [[martinet]]".<ref name="time">{{Cite magazine |date=28 February 1977 |title=Amin: The Wild Man of Africa |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,918762,00.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309155500/http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,918762,00.html |archive-date=9 March 2017 |access-date=8 August 2009 |magazine=Time}}</ref> The comedy-variety series ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' aired four Amin sketches between 1976 and 1979, including one in which he was an ill-behaved houseguest in exile, and another in which he was a spokesman against [[venereal disease]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Impressions – Idi Amin |url=http://snl.jt.org/imp.php?i=43 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214145150/http://snl.jt.org/imp.php?i=43 |archive-date=14 December 2013 |website=The SNL Archives}}</ref> In 1979, radio host [[Don Imus]] made multiple on-air telephone calls in an attempt to talk to Amin, and later hosted a phony interview with him that was deemed "very dirty".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Columbia Daily Spectator 1 October 1980 — Columbia Spectator |url=http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs19801001-01.2.8& |website=spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu}}</ref> In a ''[[Benny Hill Show]]'' episode transmitted in January 1977, Hill portrayed Amin sitting behind a desk that featured a placard reading "ME TARZAN, U GANDA".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Benny's Place • The Faces of Benny Hill – Page 5 (1977–1978) |url=http://runstop.de/faces05.html |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528232053/http://runstop.de/faces05.html |archive-date=28 May 2016 |access-date=11 June 2016 |website=runstop.de}}</ref>

The foreign media were often criticized by Ugandan exiles and defectors for emphasizing Amin's self-aggrandizing eccentricities and taste for excess while downplaying or excusing his murderous behavior.<ref name="Kibazo1">{{Cite news |last=Kibazo |first=Joel |date=13 January 2007 |title=A Brute, Not a Buffoon |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/jan/13/comment.uganda |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831000037/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/jan/13/comment.uganda |archive-date=31 August 2013 |access-date=8 August 2009 |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |quote=...{{spaces}}Amin was widely portrayed as a comic figure. Yes, he had expelled the Asians and murdered a few people, but isn't that what was expected of Africa, I used to hear.}}</ref> Other commentators even suggested that Amin had deliberately cultivated his eccentric reputation in the foreign media as an easily parodied buffoon in order to defuse international concern over his administration of Uganda.<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 August 2003 |title=Idi Amin |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1439131/Idi-Amin.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110005614/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1439131/Idi-Amin.html |archive-date=10 January 2018 |access-date=4 April 2018 |work=The Telegraph |location=London |quote=Throughout his disastrous reign, he encouraged the West to cultivate a dangerous ambivalence towards him. His genial grin, penchant for grandiose self-publicity, and ludicrous public statements on international affairs led to his adoption as a comic figure. He was easily parodied{{spaces}}... however, this fascination, verging on affection, for the grotesqueness of the individual occluded the singular plight of his nation.}}</ref> Ugandan soldier and rebel [[Patrick Kimumwe]] argued that Amin's "clowning conceal[ed] a ruthless extinction of human rights" in Uganda.{{sfn|Seftel|2010|p=198}} Journalists [[Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey]] wrote, "facile explanations of Amin's regime, as either a one-man show or a lawless and ruthless band of killers, do not get at the heart of the power structure."{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=4}}

== Legacy ==
Gender historian Alicia Decker wrote that the "deeply embedded culture of [[militarism]] in [[Uganda]] is undoubtedly Amin's most enduring legacy."{{sfn|Decker|2014|loc=Conclusion: Gendered Legacies of Amin's Militarism}} In the immediate aftermath of his deposition, [[war correspondent]] [[Al J Venter]] stated that Ugandans still spoke about Amin "with a certain amount of awe, now laced with venom".{{sfn|Venter|1979|p=85}} His reputation in Uganda has been viewed over the decades following his rule in more complex ways than in the international community. Some Ugandans have praised him as a "patriot" and supported his decision to expel Asians from the country.{{sfn|Reid|2017|pp=69–70}} At the time of his death, he was particularly well-regarded in north-western Uganda.<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 August 2003 |title=Bloody tyrant, now a good sort; Amin's legacy in Uganda |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |page=46 |volume=368 |issue=8338}}</ref> One of Amin's sons, Jaffar Remo, criticized the negative public perception of his father and called for a commission to investigate the veracity of the abuses committed under his rule.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Eichner |first=Itamar |date=4 July 2016 |title=Idi Amin's son: 'My dream is to meet with Entebbe victims' families to apologize' |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4824146,00.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812195333/https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4824146,00.html |archive-date=12 August 2019 |access-date=12 August 2019 |work=Ynetnews}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
During the 1970s, while Amin was at the height of his infamy, British comic actor [[John Bird (actor)|John Bird]] starred on the album ''[[The Collected Broadcasts of Idi Amin]]'', with lyrics based on [[Alan Coren]]'s anti-Amin ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'' columns.<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 May 2014 |title=John Bird-The Collected Broadcasts Of Idi Amin |url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?app=desktop&list=PL38DeM8p3BJWvhm8mQqay9qrDhRzT69r2 |access-date=30 December 2022 |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Collected Broadcasts of Idi Amin |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-collected-broadcasts-of-idi-amin-mw0000333589 |access-date=30 December 2022 |publisher=allmusic.com}}</ref> In 1975 the satirical single "Amazin' Man", from the album, was released on the [[Transatlantic Records|Transatlantic]] label.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Idi Amin (With The Assistance Of John Bird) |url=https://www.45cat.com/record/big527 |access-date=30 December 2022 |publisher=45cat.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=6 March 2024 |title=Amazin' Man |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVBV7e0ksXg |access-date=17 August 2024 |website=YouTube |ref={{sfnref|YouTube|2024}}}}</ref> The record stayed for 12 weeks in the [[Australian Singles Chart]], peaking at number 26.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Idi Amin (With The Assistance Of John Bird) |url=https://www.45cat.com/record/big527au |access-date=30 December 2022 |publisher=45cat.com}}</ref>

A 1974 documentary film ''[[General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait]]'' by director [[Barbet Schroeder]] was made with the support and participation of Idi Amin. ''[[Rise and Fall of Idi Amin]]'' (1981) is a Kenyan film that details the history of Idi Amin's reign. This film popularized many rumours about Amin's brutality, such as his alleged mutilation of one of his wives. Amin is played by [[Joseph Olita]], who reprised this role in ''[[Mississippi Masala]]'' (1991), a film about romance between African and Asian-Americans following Amin's [[Expulsion of Asians from Uganda|1972 expulsion of Asians from Uganda]].

Amin is the subject of English journalist [[Giles Foden]]'s novel ''[[The Last King of Scotland]]'' (1998), which focuses on Idi Amin's Uganda through the eyes of a young Scottish physician. The book was adapted into a [[The Last King of Scotland (film)|2006 feature film]], starring [[Forest Whitaker]] as Amin. For his performance, Whitaker was named the Best Lead Actor at the [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Academy Awards]], [[BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role|BAFTA Awards]], [[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role|Screen Actors Guild Awards]], [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama|Golden Globes]] and [[Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor|Critics Choice Movie Awards]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 April 2017 |title=Film 'The Last King of Scotland': preview / interviews with director... |url=https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/film-the-last-king-of-scotland-preview-interviews-with-news-footage/671330738 |access-date=17 August 2023 |website=Getty Images |language=en-us}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Fruitarianism#Notable adherents|Notable adherents of fruitarianism]]

== References ==
{{notelist}}
{{reflist}}
<!-- Stefan Lindemann, The ethnic politics of coup avoidance, page 19 ### What does this reference refer to? -->

== Sources ==
{{refbegin}}

* {{Cite book |last1=Avirgan |first1=Tony |title=War in Uganda: The Legacy of Idi Amin |last2=Honey |first2=Martha |date=1983 |publisher=Tanzania Publishing House |isbn=978-9976-1-0056-3 |location=Dar es Salaam}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Tom |title=Wars and insurgencies of Uganda 1971–1994 |last2=Fontanellaz |first2=Adrien |publisher=Helion And Company |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-910294-55-0 |location=Solihull |oclc=898052235}}
* Cotton, Fran (Ed., 1984). ''The Book of Rugby Disasters & Bizarre Records''. Compiled by Chris Rhys. London. Century Publishing. {{ISBN|0-7126-0911-3}}.
* {{Cite journal |last=Day |first=Christopher R. |date=July 2011 |title=The Fates of Rebels: Insurgencies in Uganda |journal=Comparative Politics |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=439–458 |doi=10.5129/001041511796301623 |jstor=23040638}}
* {{Cite book |last=Decalo |first=Samuel |title=Psychoses of Power: African Personal Dictatorships |publisher=[[Westview Press]] |year=1989 |isbn=0-8133-7617-3 |location=[[Boulder, Colorado]]}}
* {{Cite book |last=Decker |first=Alicia C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9JKdBAAAQBAJ |title=In Idi Amin's Shadow: Women, Gender, and Militarism in Uganda |date=2014 |publisher=Ohio University Press |isbn=978-0-8214-4502-0 |location=Athens, Ohio}}
* {{Cite book |last=Gwyn |first=David |url=https://archive.org/details/idiamindeathligh00gwyn |title=Idi Amin: Death-Light of Africa |publisher=[[Little, Brown and Company]] |year=1977 |isbn=0-316-33230-5 |location=[[Boston]]}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hansen |first=Holger Bernt |url=http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:275789/FULLTEXT01.pdf |title=Ethnicity and Military Rule in Uganda: a study of ethnicity as a political factor in Uganda, based on a discussion of political anthropology and the application of its results |date=1977 |publisher=Scandinavian Inst. of African Studies |location=Uppsala |access-date=1 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402113325/http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:275789/FULLTEXT01.pdf |archive-date=2 April 2020 |url-status=live}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Hansen |first=Holger Bernt |date=2013 |title=Uganda in the 1970s: a decade of paradoxes and ambiguities |journal=Journal of Eastern African Studies |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=83–103 |doi=10.1080/17531055.2012.755315 |s2cid=144443665}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hooper |first=Edward |title=The River: A Journey Back to the Source of HIV and AIDS |date=1999 |publisher=Allen Lane |isbn=978-0-7139-9335-6 |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Kyemba |first=Henry |author-link=Henry Kyemba |title=A State of Blood: The Inside Story of Idi Amin |publisher=[[Ace Books]] |year=1977 |location=New York |isbn=978-0441785346}}
* {{Cite book |last=Leopold |first=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cGkDEAAAQBAJ |title=Idi Amin: The Story of Africa's Icon of Evil |date=2020 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-15439-9 |location=New Haven, Connecticut}}
* {{Cite book |last=Leopold |first=Mark |title=Inside West Nile. Violence, History & Representation on an African Frontier |date=2005 |publisher=James Currey |isbn=0-85255-941-0 |location=Oxford}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lloyd |first=Lorna |title=Diplomacy with a Difference: The Commonwealth Office of High Commissioner, 1880–2006 |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff |year=2007 |isbn=978-90-04-15497-1 |location=University of Michigan}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Mambo |first1=Andrew |last2=Schofield |first2=Julian |date=2007 |title=Military Diversion in the 1978 Uganda–Tanzania War |journal=Journal of Political and Military Sociology |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=299–321 |issn=0047-2697}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Melady |first1=Thomas P. |title=Idi Amin Dada: Hitler in Africa |last2=Margaret B. Melady |publisher=Sheed Andrews and McMeel |year=1977 |isbn=0-8362-0783-1 |location=[[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]]}}
* {{Cite book |last=Nugent |first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LckcBQAAQBAJ |title=Africa since Independence |date=2012 |publisher=Red Globe Press |isbn=978-0-230-27288-0 |edition=2nd |location=London |access-date=16 March 2020 |orig-year=1st pub. 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718080419/https://books.google.com/books?id=LckcBQAAQBAJ |archive-date=18 July 2020 |url-status=live}}
* {{Cite book |last=Orizio |first=Riccardo |url=https://archive.org/details/talkofdevilencou00oriz |title=Talk of the Devil: Encounters with Seven Dictators |publisher=Walker & Company |year=2004 |isbn=0-436-20999-3 |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last=Palmowski |first=Jan |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofcont0000palm |title=Dictionary of Contemporary World History: From 1900 to the Present Day |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-19-860539-0 |edition=Second}}
* {{Cite book |last=Reid |first=Richard J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zDQEDgAAQBAJ |title=A History of Modern Uganda |date=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-06720-2 |location=Cambridge |access-date=2 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022045628/https://books.google.com/books?id=zDQEDgAAQBAJ |archive-date=22 October 2020 |url-status=live}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Rice |first=Andrew |date=20 August 2003 |title=The General |url=http://www.icwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/AR-12.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Institute of Current World Affairs Letters |volume=AR |issue=12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923072922/http://www.icwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/AR-12.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2020 |access-date=14 April 2021}}
* {{Cite book |last=Roberts |first=George |title=Politics and Violence in Eastern Africa: The Struggles of Emerging States |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-53952-0 |editor-last=Anderson |editor-first=David M. |location=London |pages=154–171 |chapter=The Uganda–Tanzania War, the fall of Idi Amin, and the failure of African diplomacy, 1978–1979 |editor-last2=Rolandsen |editor-first2=Øystein H. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AGNQDwAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite book |title=Uganda: The Bloodstained Pearl of Africa and Its Struggle for Peace. From the Pages of Drum |date=2010 |publisher=Fountain Publishers |isbn=978-9970-02-036-2 |editor-last=Seftel |editor-first=Adam |location=Kampala |orig-year=1st pub. 1994}}
* {{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Madanjeet |author-link=Madanjeet Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h7YGkcrJZJsC |title=Culture of the Sepulchre: Idi Amin's Monster Regime |date=2012 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-670-08573-6 |location=New Delhi |access-date=20 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118134531/https://books.google.com/books?id=h7YGkcrJZJsC |archive-date=18 November 2016 |url-status=live}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Venter |first=Al J. |author-link=Al J Venter |date=October 1979 |title=The War is over – What next? |url=https://archive.org/details/SoFjune1979Ocr_201807/SoF%201979-10-ocr/ |journal=[[Soldier of Fortune (magazine)|Soldier of Fortune]] |publisher=Soldier of Fortune |volume=4 |issue=10 |pages=58–59, 77, 84–85}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{sister project links||d=Q48231|c=Category:Idi Amin|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|s=no|wikt=no|species=no}}

* [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3156011.stm The Idi Amin I knew], Brian Barron, BBC, 16 August 2003. Includes a video of [https://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/cta/events03/world/africa/barron_1999_legacy.ram Brian Barron interviewing Idi Amin] in exile in 1980. The Atlantic – 1 April 2001 Memo and Quincy LS the series
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110604105901/http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4169600956573058582 General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait] on [[Google Videos]] ([[Flash Video]])
* [http://www.idiamindada.com/ idiamindada.com], a website devoted to Idi Amin's legacy created by his son Jaffar Amin
* {{IMDb name|id=0024907|name=Idi Amin}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Milton Obote]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[President of Uganda]]|years=1971–1979}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Yusufu Lule]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{UgandaPresidents}}
{{African Union chairpersons}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amin, Idi}}
[[Category:Idi Amin| ]]
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century criminals]]
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[[Category:Anti-Asian sentiment]]
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[[Category:Antisemitism in Africa]]
[[Category:British colonial army soldiers]]
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[[Category:Deaths from kidney failure]]
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[[Category:Exiled politicians]]
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[[Category:Field marshals]]
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[[Category:People from Kampala]]
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[[Category:People of the Cold War]]
[[Category:People of the Congo Crisis]]
[[Category:Politicide perpetrators]]
[[Category:Presidents for life]]
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[[Category:Pretenders to the Scottish throne]]
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[[Category:Ugandan rugby union players]]
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[[Category:Former fugitives wanted on war crimes charges]]