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Idi Amin Dada Oumee was born in the rural village of Koboko, Uganda, in 1923, a member of the Kakwa tribe. Raised in the isolated farming country of northwestern Uganda, Amin received a scant education which left him functionally illiterate. During the Second World War, at the age of 18, he enlisted in the British Army in the East African Rifles and fought in Burma against the Japanese. At the end of the war Amin joined the British 4th Ugandan Battalion. After distinguishing himself in the fight against Kenya's Mau Maus between 1953 and 1957, Amin was promoted to sergeant major and admitted to an officer training program. Despite his lack of formal education, he proved to be one of Uganda's most able military commanders. In 1964, two years after Uganda was granted independence from Great Britian, Amin was appointed deputy chief of the nation's army and air force with the rank of colonel. When Amin's friend, Dr. Milton Obote, seized power in Uganda in February 1966, he placed Amin as his right-hand man in full command of the armed forces, promoting him to major general in 1968. By 1970 a rift had developed between the two men, both wanting more power. On January 25, 1971, Amin overthrew Obote in a military coup, forcing him into exile. Amin then declared himself president and general, and a year later promoted himself to field marshal. Amin's victory over the authoritarian Obote regime was initially greeted with widespread support. However, that soon turned to hatred and fear when Amin began solidifying his absolute control over the nation. Within months after assuming office this large man of Libya sent troops and equipment to aid Amin's army, and the Palestine Liberation Organization sent some of its fighters, they were not sufficient to quell the popular uprising that ensued throughout Uganda and the approaching Tanzanian troops and Ugandan rebels. Amin's oppressive rule was brought to an end on April 11, 1979 when Tanzanian soldiers captured the Ugandan capital of Kampala, forcing Amin to flee into exile, taking most of his ill-gotten wealth and supporters with him. Amin first went to Libya and then to Saudi Arabia where he lived until his death in 2003.
Was illiterate.
President and ruthless dictator of Uganda from 1971 to 1979.
The Saudi government has supported Amin and his family since he fled Uganda on 11 April 1979. In return, the Saudis - who wont talk about their infamous guest - demand silence and no political activity.
In July 1961, Amin became the first Ugandan to become a commissioned officer in the British colonial Kings African Rifles.
Conferred a doctorate of law on himself from Makerere University.
When the official newspaper wrote about him they had to begin with the following: "His Excellency, Field Marshall, Al-Haji, Dr. Idi Amin Dada, Life President of Uganda, conqueror of the British Empire, distinguished service order of the Military Cross, Victoria Cross and Professor of Geography."
Heavyweight boxing champion of Uganda (1951 - 1960)
When he discovered that president Milton Obote intended to arrest him on charges of misappropriating millions of dollars of military funds, Amin seized power in a coup on 1/25/71 while Obote was out of the country, and had Obotes supporters executed. Amin had been the chief of staff of Ugandas army and air force until 1970.
Amins son, Haji Ali Kirunda Amin, failed to take the Njeru Town Council (Kampala, Uganda) chairpersons seat in a five-man race. (8 January 2002)
Was overweight and suffered from hypertension and fatigue in his later years, leading to his slipping into a coma on July 18, 2003, and his body gave out almost one month later, on August 16, 2003.
His friendship with King Faisal I of Saudi Arabia helped ease the way for a quiet retirement in that country, and Amin died in a hospital named after the King.
Once offered to be King of Scotland, if he was asked.
In 1976 the Palestine Liberation Organization hijacked an Air France airliner to Entebbe Airport outside Kampala and held its Israeli passengers hostage. In a stunning military operation, Israeli commandos flew to Uganda, landed unobserved at the far end of Entebbe, and in a coordinated attack rescued the hostages and killed all the hijackers, along with a number of Ugandan troops who were protecting them. Amin claimed he had been trying to negotiate a peaceful resolution, but there was overwhelming evidence that he was in league with the hijackers.
During his rule, he declared himself King of Scotland, banned hippies and miniskirts, and attended a Saudi royal funeral wearing a kilt.
In 1972, he expelled 50,000 Asians, whose ancestors had come to Uganda as laborers for the British and became the countrys premier traders and businessmen, saying God had told him to transform Uganda into "a black mans country." He gave the Asians homes and businesses to favored military officers in an effort to insure their loyalty. Deprived of its business class, the East African nation plummeted into economic chaos.
Human rights groups say from 100,000 to 500,000 people were murdered during Amins eight-year rule.
Was believed to have up to 50 children and five wives, two of whom he personally killed. According to aides, he would place the body of one of his murdered wives on a chair at the dinner table while he dined with his children, telling them that this is what happened when "bad mommy" disobeyed him.
Self-declared title: His Excellency President for Life Field Marshal Al Hadji Dr. Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, King of Scotland Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular
Trained by the British army.
I am the hero of Africa.
In any country there must be people who have to die. They are the,sacrifices any nation has to make to achieve law and order.
Sometimes people mistake the way I talk for what I am thinking.
You cannot run faster than a bullet,Sometimes people mistake the way I talk for what I am thinking. .
