Idi Amin (Amin) Dada
It was only in 1962 that Uganda was able to get rid of its status as a British colony since 1890. Milton O'Porter became the first president after independence. "General Amin", who was born in the army, was appointed as the Chief of General Staff of the Army. Obote gradually felt that Amin, who was a clique in the army, was a threat. In October 1970, he finally issued an order to put him under house arrest. On January 25, 1971, Obote, who was attending an international conference in Singapore, saw through news reports , Amin successfully launched a coup and declared himself the ruler of Uganda.
Amin was born in a small village in the West Nile region of northwest Uganda. Even the specific date of birth is unknown. People can only speculate that he was born in 1925. His parents were devout believers in Islam. When he was young, his family was poor and he only attended elementary school intermittently for three or four years. Due to his tall stature and excellent arm strength, he developed well in the Ugandan boxing scene. From 1951 to 1960, he dominated the Ugandan boxing championship for 10 years.
Enlisting in the army made Amin, who has longed for power since childhood, rise to power. In 1946, Amin joined the 4th Battalion of the Royal African Rifles, the British colonial army. Amin served in the Allied forces during the Burma War in World War II. His military talents were appreciated by the British. From an ordinary soldier, he finally rose to "General Amin", which laid the foundation for his future seizure of power.
When he first seized power, he was supported by many Africans who had just escaped from colonial rule because he often mocked his former colonial power, Britain. The international community only regarded him as a simple-minded warrior. In the second year after he came to power, Amin's cruel and extravagant nature was gradually exposed. He went to great lengths to eliminate his imagined enemies or potential political opponents. During Amin's eight-year rule, black terror prevailed, and 300,000 to 500,000 Ugandans were killed. Because there was no time to dig the graves, many bodies were thrown into the Nile. At one point, the intake of a major hydropower station in Jinja was clogged because of so many bodies. Amin became synonymous with "darkness and terror".
Amin, who has not finished primary school, governs the country based on his own imagination. He believes that Asians who control 80% of his country's economy should be driven out of Uganda to achieve Uganda's economic independence. As a result, more than 60,000 Asians were deprived of their properties in Uganda and deported. The disappearance of the entire business class and the economic sanctions imposed by the international community caused the country's economy to suddenly fall into an abyss, with supplies becoming scarce and the economic level regressing to what it was many years ago.
A man with a complex personality
In 1974, French film director Babette Strode was invited to shoot a documentary for Amin. In the video, this big black man, who weighs 112 kilograms, shows extraordinary energy. His conversation is bold and funny, and he often bursts into self-deprecating or self-satisfied hearty laughter. He shows extreme confidence or arrogance, and his style is tough but not arrogant. Loss of elegance. Compared with the A Ming who is known to have many crimes, the A Ming in the camera is extremely approachable. In front of the camera, he is a natural performer.
He called Nixon "my dear brother" and hoped that he would survive the Watergate incident; he mocked the president of neighboring Tanzania and said, "I love him very much and if he were a woman, I would marry him"; He blasted Kissinger as a weak-willed leader. He calls himself the "Conqueror of the British Empire" and once expressed his willingness to become the "King of Scotland" if invited. He also often writes to the Queen of England, jokingly saying that he is willing to contribute and donate to Britain's depressed economic situation. ￡600. Sure enough, he organized a nationwide fundraiser to support the United Kingdom, but it seemed more like a farce. He raised several carts of vegetables and food and 43,000 shillings in cash, but "Prime Minister Keith never sent a plane to collect it."
Amin, who was so happy with his success, added to himself "the savior of all the people of Uganda, the father of the nation, the winner of the Grand Cross of Victory, the Distinguished Service Medal and the Military Cross, Field Marshal, President of the Republic of China Amin Doctor" and a long list of titles.
In his mansion, the servants were all white to show his view that blacks were superior to whites. The arrogant Amin once expressed his admiration for Hitler and even believed that Hitler was "right" to kill 6 million Jews.
A Ming married 5 wives throughout his life and had 43 children. Another theory is that he married 13 wives and had 54 children. Today many of these children live throughout the United States and Europe.
The opposition claimed that Amin killed people and kept their heads in the refrigerator, fed human flesh to crocodiles, and killed and quartered one of his wives. It is said that another time, when he found out that his lover had a boyfriend, he killed her on the spot, cooked his body and ate it alive! As a result, Amin earned the nickname "The Man-Eating Demon". A reporter once asked A Ming to confirm whether he had really eaten human flesh. A Ming actually replied, "Human flesh is too salty and does not suit my taste."
As Uganda sank deeper and deeper into corruption and chaos, Amin continued to give himself new titles to deepen his rule over the entire country, such as President for Life, Conqueror of the British Empire, and so on. He also compared himself to a pure father and asked Ugandans to call him "dad" or "great dad".
Amin was once a friend of Israel. When Amin launched a military coup in January 1971, Israeli military advisers provided him with great assistance. However, after Israel refused to provide Uganda with weapons to attack neighboring Tanzania, Amin immediately turned his back and became a figure who hates Jews and admires Gaddafi.
After the Yom Kippur War in 1973, many African rulers, including Amin, severed friendly ties with Israel. Not only that, Amin also donated the former Israeli embassy to the Palestine Liberation Organization as a stronghold. . Haddad's "People's Front" was also allowed to enter Uganda to set up camp and set up a grand official office in the capital. Relations between Ukraine and Israel deteriorated sharply.
On June 28, 1976, terrorists took 94 Jews and 12 crew members on the Air France hostage and landed in Uganda. The Israeli commandos flew 4,000 kilometers and rescued all the hostages (three of whom died) at the cost of one death and four injuries. The Israeli army also blew up 11 Ugandan fighter jets, killing 45 Ugandan soldiers and almost annihilating the Ugandan Air Force. This assault, which can be regarded as a model in the world, made Amin himself unable to help but praise: "As a professional soldier, I think the attack was very successful." Of course, this Israeli assault completely destroyed the morale of the Ugandan army.
However, it was the little coffee bean that really took away A Ming. After Amin came to power, he implemented a dictatorship and ordered the expulsion of Asians in the territory. This move seriously hindered domestic economic development. Only coffee became the lifeline of the national economy.
Amin’s dictatorial behavior has been internationally condemned. The New York Times satirized that the United States purchases $200 million in coffee beans from Uganda every year, which is tantamount to funding Amin. Ohio Rep. Donald Bice introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that would require the U.S. government to stop importing Ugandan coffee in order to force Amin to step down. General Foods, Nestlé and other large roasting companies also issued a joint statement through the American Coffee Association condemning the Ugandan government. Under this situation, the U.S. Congress held a hearing on the situation in Uganda in February 1978 and passed a boycott of Ugandan coffee beans in July.
The U.S. ban has greatly weakened Amin’s financial resources. The morale of his army was damaged. The following year, in April 1979, the Uganda National Liberation Army formed by more than 20 anti-Amin groups in exile captured Kampala with the support of the Tanzanian army. Amin fled and went into exile in Libya and Iraq, and finally came to Saudi Arabia, relying on the Saudi government. He lives with his four wives in the port city of Jeddah. After Amin stepped down, the United States lifted the embargo. It is legendary that American politicians relied on coffee to bring down the Amin regime without spending a single bullet.
After Amin stepped down, the life of the family was very different. His fifth wife, Sarah, who spent ￡2 million on her wedding, left Amin in 1982 and sought political asylum in Germany. There she resumed her old career as a dancer and lingerie model.
Later, Sarah couldn't get along in Germany and was forced to move to England. In order to make a living, she opened a coffee shop with extremely poor sanitary conditions in the northern suburbs of London.
Amin himself lives a peaceful life in the city of Jeddah on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia. In 2000, when he gave his first interview to an American reporter, he put on the simple white robe of a Saudi Arabian. Living here for many years, many people saw him pushing a shopping cart to pray. He remained silent to passers-by who greeted him and never expressed his opinion on the world. Neighbors said that they saw many of Amin's children every day, because Amin had given birth to 54 children, but only 6 children and 4 wives still lived with him. However, Amin never dared to mention returning to China because he knew that returning would mean being judged.
On August 16, 2003, 80-year-old Amin did not receive the punishment he deserved. He died of kidney failure in the hospital.