Idi Amin
Francisco Macías Nguema probably still holds the title of the most deranged African leader ever to seize power, but Idi Amin of Uganda remains the best-known of that lunatic fringe of African dictatorship.
Uganda was one of the better-run and more stable British African colonies, and without a large settler population, it was granted independence reasonably easily and cleanly. In January, 1971, however, a decade of peaceful, transitional rule in the country was shattered when a military coup brought the commander of the army, an over-promoted sergeant major, into power.
Initially, General Idi Amin was humbled by what he had done, and in his first public address, he read out the usual commitments to democratic elections and civilian rule. Very quickly this began to change, however, declared military rule throughout the country, installed himself as president and began seconding and personalizing the instruments of security. The ‘State Research Bureau’, an ad hoc security agency, manned by thugs and loyalists, became one of the most feared organizations of its type in Africa. It was responsible for the abduction, torture and killing of hundreds, perhaps thousands of Amin’s real or perceived enemies, and countless innocent citizens.
Attempts to overthrow his government were met by brutal force and the wholesale killing of anyone even suspected of involvement. This was typically followed by the massacre of families just to drive the point home. His victims also included opposing ethnic groups, religious leaders, journalists, artists, senior bureaucrats, judges, lawyers, students and intellectuals. Bodies were frequently dumped in the Nile River, to be dealt with by crocodiles. Towards the end of his regime, the killing was an orgy, driven by paranoia and a distrust of everyone around him. Various agencies have tried to calculate the human cost of all of this, and the figure most often quoted is 300,000.
Amin was also guilty of personal psychopathy. Tales of severed heads in his freezer, and body parts stacked in his home are all too persistent to be wholly untrue. He seized the property and assets of the wealthy East Indian community, ordering their immediate expulsion, and he styled himself the King of Scotland. He appeared at a royal Saudi Funeral wearing a kilt. In the meanwhile, he awarded himself the Victoria Cross, and promoted himself to: ‘His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, 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’.
For a few glorious years, Idi Amin wallowed in blood, money and delusion, until, in 1979, he was overthrown in a military invasion launched from Tanzania. He was granted asylum in Libya, and having converted to Islam, died later in Saudi Arabia. Idi Amin has often been described as Africa’s Pol Pot, although it could be said at least of Pol Pot that he acted through the medium of an ideology. This Amin did not.