amin AND haile 1973

Amin's dream for Africa

His address to the OAU Summit in 1973 was hailed as one in which 'a Real

Nationalist had pinpointed Africa’s most important problems and how they

might be solved.' Bamuturaki Musinguzi selects excerpts from Idi Amin's 1973

book, Contributions

TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS after he was ousted, and three years after his death,

the life and times of Idi Amin continue to capture the imagination of many

Ugandans.

Countless books and articles have been written about the dictator who ruled

Uganda from January 25, 1971 to April 11, 1979, when he was ousted by a

coalition of Ugandan exiles with the help of Tanzanian troops.

One of the most interesting of these is Amin's own version of the coup in

which he ousted Milton Obote and his recipe for the liberation of Africa as

recounted in his book, Contributions, published by the Uganda Printing &

Publishing Corporation in 1973.

According to the book, one-and-a-half years into office, Amin arrived in Addis

Ababa, Ethiopia, for the 10th Organisation of African Unity full of pan-African

zeal, liberation, economic emancipation, nationalism and anti-racism.

The flamboyant and towering Amin was received at the Addis Ababa airport by

Emperor Haile Selassie I and the OAU Secretary General Nzo Ekangaki on May

23, 1973.

Being his first attendance of the OAU summit, Amin attracted a lot of

attention for his bold and controversial moves, including the expulsion of

Indians from Uganda.

According to Contributions, there was an indescribable state of commotion

among local and international photographers with each trying to get a snap of

the Ugandan leader at the summit.

"Nothing like it during that session had been experienced at the Africa Hall.

Nothing like it was experienced thereafter. It was an occasion of its own. One

needed to be there to witness it," says the book.

The climax of the people’s expectations only came the following day (May 25),

when the chairman of the summit and president of Nigeria, General Yakubu

Gowon, declared, "I have the honour to give the floor to my colleague and

brother, His Excellency the President of Uganda, General Idi Amin."

Amin walked to the rostrum amid cheers from inside and outside the Africa

Hall. Unlike his colleagues, Amin chose to address the summit ex tempore, the

103 page book reveals.

Amin begins thus, "If I am moved to address you in a rather strong language,

you will bear with me for I speak of matters with which my heart overflows

and for the same reason, I propose, rather that I deliver a written statement,

to address you ex tempore."

And before he delved into matters of common concern, Amin first dispelled

persistent propaganda against his government in the international press by

narrating to the summit the events that swept President Milton Obote out of

office in 1971.

Amin alleged that shortly after Obote left for the Commonwealth Prime

Minister’s Conference in Singapore in January 1971, it was established beyond

all reasonable doubt in Uganda that Obote had left behind a plan by which

some of his supporters in the army and secret service would carry out a coup

d’etat. They would also abrogate the constitution, eliminate all his critics, and

then hand power to him on his return.

It was after the discovery of these facts that the majority of loyal and patriotic

troops gathered forces and overwhelmed the Obote traitors in a counter-coup.

"I was then forced, contrary to my will, by the officers and men of Uganda

Army and Air Force, to assume control of the government," Amin says.

HE ADDS, "THIS WAS indeed against my will as on May 23, 1966, I had

declined the offer by Obote to establish and head a military government in

Uganda after he clashed violently with the Kabaka (King) of Buganda. But I

had to accept leading the country this time after the officers and men had

imprisoned me for eight hours."

Amin labours to justify the coup by saying that, "I recount, this history briefly

to dismantle the lie that my assumption of Uganda leadership was a result of

a premeditated coup against Obote. The mandate entrusted to me by the

Uganda armed forces, embodied in 18 points that led to Obote’s overthrow,

was to restore the confidence of our masses in an honest and vigorous

leadership that I have since endeavoured to provide."

He then turned to his favourite topic, "The liberation of the remainder of our

mother Africa." He told the assembly that Uganda was fully committed to this

cause and had oversubscribed its quota to the liberation struggle by over

$72,000.

The cogent and persistent question Africa must ask, Amin said, was, Have we

done all that is necessary? All that we must do to liberate Africa? Mr

Chairman, distinguished brothers, as the truth must be told, the answer is

"No".

He, therefore, proposed that Africa should harness all its military and other

resources in a similar manner to what Eastern Europe had done in forming

the Warsaw Pact or the Western powers in creating Nato.

These regional defence pacts, to which several member states subscribe, are

highly exemplary to us, Amin argued. Like us, each of their member states is

independent and a mutual defence organisation cannot possibly detract our

countries from their individual sovereignty, he added.

"And yet, by so coming together, we would harness our military and other

material resources to unhinge and overthrow the minority racist regimes in

Southern Africa, Guinea Bissau, Angola and the Arab occupied lands in the

Middle East," he said.

Amin expressed disappointment that the then 41 independent nations of

nearly 400 million people, consisting nearly one-third of the UN, were not only

kept at bay, but were effectively frustrated by tiny Mozambique and South

Africa.

"In Guinea Bissau," he said, "there are only 250,000 Whites. Weigh this against

the nearly 400 million Africans, then you realise the overwhelming magnitude

of our inaction.

He went ahead to suggest a liberation force for Africa in which each country

would put part of its army, according to capacity, at the disposal of the OAU

in joint exercises of liberation. And each state would be responsible for all the

expenses of equipping, transporting and paying its military contingent. "This is

our challenge and it must be accepted as inescapable".

On the issue of expelling non-citizen Asians from Uganda, giving them notice

of as many as 90 days within which to leave the country, Amin told the

summit, "Let me state that this expulsion was not motivated by racism as

alleged by imperialists. Since the country’s independence in 1962, the

government offered these ‘alien Asians’ citizenship, after coming in as

destitutes and making great fortunes.

"They refused; not only did they reject our hospitality thus, but they were not

even prepared to return to their motherland, the Indian sub-continent. They

were in truth British, in spirit and aspiration."

AMIN QUOTES A RETIRED Indian government finance minister who said that

these Asians had been sending about £300 million ($525 million at current

rates) annually to the UK from the East African states of Kenya, Tanzania and

Uganda.

"It was an intolerable state of affairs that our economy should be so milked

dry by an alien minority, who blatantly rejected identifying themselves with

us. It is significant that out of their free choice these people did not go to Asia

but preferred the UK, principally, of course, because their fortune was safely

banked there," he said.

"The justice of my action is evidenced by the fact that our relations with India,

Pakistan and Bangladesh, are very friendly and mutually beneficial, for I am

convinced of the value of Afro-Asian solidarity."

 

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