General Idi Amin Dada of Uganda
(1971 – 1979)
General Idi Amin Dada of Uganda first rose to prominence when he took the rank of major general in the Ugandan Army following independence. He became commander of the army and then took power in Uganda through a military coup in January 1971. He was in power for only 8 years but it was some of the worst years in Ugandan history.
When he took power he promised that he was not a politician and he would only stay in power until free elections could be held. However, a week later he declared himself President and suspended numerous parts of the Ugandan constitution. He created a military dictatorship, where military officers were put in top positions of government and the military tribunals were put above civil law. He created the State Research Bureau which would torture and execute any who opposed Idi Amin’s rule.
In 1972, Ugandan exile attempted a coup against Idi Amin. They failed but it made him paranoid. He increased his force and retaliated against the ethnic groups that the rebels belonged to. Thousands were killed or disappeared. Before long other ethnic groups were added to the purge and it is estimated that anywhere from 80,000 to 300,000 people were killed during Idi Amin’s 8-year reign. He believed that Asians and Europeans, whether or not they were Ugandan citizens had no right to Ugandan businesses and he took them away and gave them to his followers. The businesses were mismanaged and failed, which caused the country’s economy to decline.
He redirected most of the country’s money to the military and to himself which left the rest of Uganda to suffer in abject poverty. He took so much of the country’s money for himself that the inflation rate in Uganda rose to 1,000 percent by the time he was driven out of power.