Myths and Realities of Idi Amin Dada's Uganda

Abstract

Like several previous publications, the central theme of the books under review is their concern about the violation of human rights in Idi Amin Dada's Uganda. Unlike some of the earlier publications, however, these authors have unquestionable credentials for the task they embarked on. Although, for instance, Gwyn and the Meladys are foreigners, they lived in Uganda and studied Amin at close quarters. Kyemba, on the other hand, was born and raised in Uganda and worked as a cabinet minister in Amin's government before defecting. Respectable as these authors are, however, the question which still remains unanswered is: what portion of their writings is a myth and what can be taken as a reality? While raising this question may be like hair splitting where there is no hair to split, note should be taken that although Amin is generally portrayed as a ruthless dictator, there are individuals who believe that such an assessment is due to bias rather than the realities of the Ugandan situation (N. Y. Amsterdam News, 7 May 1977). Furthermore note should be made of the fact that even some serious academic works on contemporary Uganda have been criticized for lack of depth. For example, able as Ali Mazrui is, his writings on Uganda have been questioned on grounds that they are not an empirically disciplined explanation of the African process (Yeager, 1977: 293) or because Mazrui seldom develops his arguments in any detail before moving on to another area, nor does he attempt to gather the necessary empirical support for his hypotheses (Ravenhill, 1976: 725). Given the existence of such doubtful views on interpretations of recent Ugandan history, this paper will focus on the question of myth versus reality in examining the subthemes of Amin's rise to power, his expulsion of Asians, the killings that followed, and the world reaction to these events.